


Lost in The Vampire Diaries

by esm3rald



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Blood Drinking, Blood Sharing, Drama, F/M, Romance, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Sexual Content, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:56:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esm3rald/pseuds/esm3rald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A beautiful, blonde cheerleader who's also a big TVD fan wakes up one day in the 'Vampire Diaries' world. Strangest thing of all? She has replaced her favorite female character, Caroline Forbes. Inspired by 'Lost in Austen'. Begins in the very first episode of Season1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Heart's Desire

**Author's Note:**

> Caroline is not my favorite character. I liked her in season2 very much but now I like her only when she has scenes with Klaus and sometimes with Stefan and Tyler. However she is the favorite female character of my OC. That is not the same thing. I don't really think that Caroline and Damon would be good together. But my OC thinks so, and that's the reason why she takes over Caroline's life. I hope that's clear.
> 
> Another thing, my OC has seen the Vampire Diaries since the episode 2x02. In her world the entire season2, the season3 and the season4 has not yet aired.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries nor any of its characters. Just my OC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a video about Damon and Claire - or as I imagined Claire looks like -. It's on Youtube, it's called 'Damon Salvatore/Claire Forbes - State of Seduction'. I'd really like if you'd checked it out because I spent a lot of time creating it.

 

 

 

**Prologue**

**HEART'S DESIRE**

_"No other dream could replace_  
_That lonely and cold empty space_  
_And fill my heart with a love_  
_For it's you I'm dreaming of..."_

**(Heart's Desire by Manhattan Transfer)**

Claire was watching The Vampire Diaries like every Thursday night. She sighed a little dreamily when Damon Salvatore appeared on the screen. She couldn't understand how Elena was still with Stefan when there was someone like Damon around. He loved her so much and he would do anything for her, how could Elena treat him so badly? Yes, Damon had done a lot of bad things but Stefan had too. Why Stefan was so easily forgiven by her but not Damon? It wasn't fair. If only Damon hadn't abused Caroline so badly in the first season... they would have been good together. Of course Caroline was more than a little annoying at the beginning of the first season, maybe if she had been different, even her relationship with Damon would have been better. Caroline was very loyal and passionate and had a big heart. Damon deserved someone like that since he loved with all that he had. And anyway it wasn't fair that he always had to compete with his brother for the love of the woman he was in love with. Damon deserved someone who hadn't been in love with his brother first. Of course she knew that a love story between Damon and Caroline was impossible now. Damon was completely in love with Elena and Caroline was with Matt.

Claire sighed again. Of course Caroline had still not acquired the maturity necessary to appeal to a man like Damon. She was starting to grow up just now but it was too late because Damon was already in love with Elena and he - unfortunately for her - was loyal to a fault.

Claire shook her head a little deprecatingly. She had become a little too obsessed with this show. It wasn't healthy. She was not Caroline and Damon Salvatore did not exist, to her great chagrin.

Of course she and Caroline had a lot in common. They were both blue-eyed blonde and captain of their respective cheerleader's squad, always invested in whatever extracurricular activity possible, like planning school dances or parties for the football team. And they were the Queen Bees of their schools. Beautiful, popular and mean and shallow too - at least at first sight -. Even their names were kind of similar.

She kept watching the episode - Brave New World - and winced when Damon tried to stake Caroline. Poor Caroline, first killed by Katherine and now almost killed - again - by Damon. Unfortunately Damon was really a dick towards Caroline. If only things had been different. Maybe at this point in time Damon would have tried to help her with her transformation instead of trying to kill her.

Then she became angry when Bonnie tried to barbecued Damon. It wasn't his fault that Caroline was now a vampire dammit. It was Katherine's. Why had she not tried to kill her when she had seen her at the Lockwood Mansion? Bonnie was such a bitch nowadays. It was not like everything bad that happened in Mystic Falls was Damon's fault now. Fortunately Elena jumped across the fire to stop Bonnie from killing Damon.  _Good one Elena_! But of course soon after she left with Bonnie, leaving Damon lying there alone on the ground. Poor Damon. Of course Elena had every right to hate Damon right now since he had killed Jeremy and all but Elena didn't know what both she and Katherine had done to Damon. They had completely broken his heart.

What was so special about Stefan anyway that both Katherine and Elena were so in love with him? She didn't see anything special in him really. He wasn't particularly handsome. Or at least he was nothing compared to Damon. He was arrogant, manipulative, selfish and a big fat liar. He was also spoiled and used to being chosen over his brother. He was the Golden boy, the preferred son. Claire hated people like that. Those who obtained everything they wanted without doing anything to earn it. Because what had actually done Stefan to earn Elena's love except having manipulated her from the very beginning? Damon had saved her life countless times but not once had Elena thanked him for it. If only someone would really try to get to know the real Damon, the loyal man who would do anything for the people he loved, instead of the monster he wanted to pass for. Thinking that she had liked Stefan at the very beginning of the series. But when she had found out that he had stalked Elena for three months after her parents' death... The epic love story that they wanted to portray had suddenly appeared cheap and fake. And of course the more the audience found out about Stefan and Damon's past and the more was evident who was the real hero of the story. Looking a little bit in disgust the cheesy scene between Elena and Stefan on the Ferris wheel, she yawned. Not too long until the end of the episode and then she would be free to dream about Damon Salvatore all she wanted. She grinned, she was such an idiot. As if Damon would ever be interested in her if he really existed, or if she was in his world. Her last thought before finally falling asleep was that if she had been in Caroline's place, she would have tried in any way she could to make Damon realize that Katherine and Elena were not the only girls that existed in the world and that neither of them really deserved his unconditional and all consuming love. She really wished she had Caroline's life. She could change so many things about Caroline's own life, about Damon's... Damon would finally have someone who loved him completely, someone who wasn't the least bit interested in his brother. And Claire would have Damon of course. And that was everything she could ask for.


	2. Chapter 1 - Careful What You Wish For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes when you get what you want, you realize that you didn't want it at all. Or maybe you do? Claire is not exactly happy that her wish has somewhat been granted. Ending up as a fictional character in your favorite show to some may seem like the best thing that could happen but one thing is watch people been killed on TV and another is find yourself in the middle of it, especially if you know who's responsible and you can't do anything about it, for two very different reasons. The first is that Damon would kill her if she so much as try to utter a word and second, if she tell someone about it, Damon would be in danger and no matter what, she doesn't want anything to happen to him. But how to convince him of that? Well, at least mocking Stefan is fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a video about Damon and Claire - or as I imagined Claire looks like -. It's on Youtube, it's called 'Damon Salvatore/Claire Forbes - State of Seduction'. I'd really like if you'd checked it out because I spent a lot of time creating it.

 

 

 

**Chapter 1**

**CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR**

_"Be careful what you wish for_  
_'Cause you just might get it_  
_And if you get it then you just might not know_  
_What to do wit' it, 'cause it might just_  
_Come back on you ten-fold"_

**_(Careful what you Wish for by Eminem)_ **

Claire woke up with the uncomfortable feeling of something being off. She opened her eyes, trying to figure out what was different. And then she understood. It was the strange sensation of falling asleep in one place and waking up in another. Because the bedroom she found herself in was definitely not hers. It was kind of familiar though... Where had she seen it before? She looked around her curiously and then noticed a photo on her nightstand that made her widen her eyes. It was of three girls, one was definitely herself - fact that would have seemed strange enough already since she didn't remember having ever posed for this particular photo - but the really strange thing was the two other girls in the photo with her. She knew those girls, even if she hadn't ever met them in person, nor she thought she ever would. But it didn't make sense, she would surely remember if she had taken a photo with Nina Dobrev and Kat Graham. Especially in those cheerleaders' outfits. So she was in a photo with the actresses who played Elena and Bonnie in The Vampire Diaries, in their cheerleader uniforms, those same uniforms that she had seen in the episode 'Friday Night Bites'? How was it possible? And where was Candice Accola? The actress who played Caroline Forbes in the show. She looked around once again at the room she was in and then it clicked, why the room seemed so familiar.  _No way! I'm dreaming, I'm definitely dreaming!_ That was Caroline Forbes' room, the same one she had seen in the show. What the hell was happening? She closed and opened her eyes several times, hoping to wake up from this strange dream but nothing. Then she pinched her arm too for good measure -  _it hurts dammit_  - but it served no good. She was still there.

"Claire, are you up? You better hurry or you'll be late for your first day of school." She heard a woman's voice calling from outside her room.

"Yes, mum." She answered automatically and then widened her eyes even more.  _'Mum?' Why did I call this woman 'mum'?_   _I don't know her, but she obviously knows me since she called me by my name._  A second later she realized that she knew that voice too. It was Liz Forbes' voice.  _You gotta be kidding me!_   _I'm in The Vampire Diaries?_

She got up from the bed in a sudden move and found herself in front of the big mirror near the window. She looked like herself and Liz Forbes called her Claire and not Caroline but she was in Caroline's room and there was no trace of her, she was even in a photo with Elena and Bonnie...  _Oh my God, I'm Caroline Forbes! Or at least, I've taken over her life._ But if she was there, where was the real Caroline? Maybe they had switched places like in that British series when a modern girl switched places with Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy ended up falling in love with her? What was the title? Oh right, 'Lost In Austen'. But she had not crossed some strange door/portal to end up here. She had just woke up here. Why? The last thing she remembered was wishing she had Caroline's life.  _Oh!_   _No, it's not possible. Those kind of things happened only in films or TV Shows, not in real life._ Except that she was really there.  _What am I going to do now?_ She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The best course of action right now was simply going through the motions and hoping to wake up the next day in her real world once again. So, first thing first, she needed to get ready for school. She took a quick shower, realizing that she needed to hurry or she would be very late. She took a brief look inside the walk-in closet - she had a walk-in closet now, wow - and grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans, a light blue top, black leather ankle boots and jacket. Those were not her clothes but they were definitely clothes she would have chosen for herself and they were actually her size too. Nothing pink or frilly like Caroline's clothes were in the TV show.  _Thank God for that, I may be a blonde cheerleader, but I'm not a Barbie!_ She searched for the makeup bag and finally find it on the dresser together with the jewelry box full of necklaces, rings and earrings. She put a little makeup on, just a bit of mascara, eyeliner, lip-gloss and a veil of blush on her cheeks. She wore a silver pair of earrings, a large silver bracelet with light blue decorations painted on it and then she spotted a beautiful lapis lazuli locket on a silver chain that cascaded perfectly a little above the neckline. 

She looked at it for a moment, having the impression that she was forgetting something and then she remembered. Today she would meet Stefan Salvatore at school.  _I need vervain. I hope Liz Forbes has got some of it somewhere. I don't want to end up as Damon's chew toy like what happened to the real Caroline in the show!_ She spotted her school bag on a chair near the door, thanking whoever send her there that the books she would need for school were already inside of it and then she descended the stairs towards the kitchen. She searched for a few minutes inside the various kitchen cabinets and finally spotted the familiar plant, thanking the Council and Zach Salvatore for their existence for the first time ever. She put some of it inside the locket and was finally ready to go. The car keys were on the table with a note from Liz to drive safe. Claire smiled at that. Maybe she could try to improve the relationship between Caroline and her mum since in the show it wasn't the best. Then she shook her head,  _There's no Caroline here, there's just me, at least for now. Better start thinking like that or people will think I am having Personality Disorders or something._ She took the keys and left the house, finding the car already parked on the driveway. The problem was that she didn't know how to reach the school since she didn't know the Mystic Falls' streets. It wasn't like in the Vampire Diaries they show you how to reach the town's different places. She started the engine anyway and then she realized with a start that she knew the direction to take to arrive at Mystic Falls High.  _Maybe one day I'll get used to all the strange things that are happening to me._   _Or maybe it's better if I don't because that would mean I would get used to stay here too and I don't know if that's a good thing, especially counting the high mortality rate in this town. I really don't want to die, I'm too young for that._

She reached the school parking lot in about fifteen minutes and left the car. She entered inside the school and took a look around her. Everything was exactly as it was in the show, it was eerie. She noticed Bonnie and Elena near their lockets and decided to join them.  _Time to face the music!_ She refused to act like Caroline did in the first few episodes of the show, she was her own person, she would behave as she did usually, no matter the fact that her life had suddenly became a TV show.

"Hey Elena, Bonnie!" she smiled at them but didn't ask Elena how she was, she had just lost her parents, it was obvious she wasn't okay.

"Hey Claire!" Bonnie answered with a smile on her own. Elena nodded at her, looking a little uncomfortable.

"So have you heard about the new guy?" Claire asked, trying to lighten the obvious tension.

"What new guy?" asked Bonnie again.

Claire shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Don't know. Just that we'll have a new acquisition to our school body. I hope he's hot!"

Elena and Bonnie laughed at that. "Of course you would know! Claire Forbes is always informed about everything that's going on here!" Bonnie exclaimed with a smirk.

"You know me. I'm the Gossip Queen of this school!" Claire joked, trying to ignore how strange her given name sounded associated with the last name Forbes.

"Let's say the whole town!" Elena said this time.

Just in that moment they noticed a guy making his way towards the school office. Claire recognized him immediately. It was Stefan Salvatore.

"Must be him!" Claire added for good measure, already knowing that he was in fact the new student.

"He seems pretty hot!" Bonnie commented, looking at Stefan with an intrigued expression on her face. Claire mentally rolled her eyes.  _He's nothing to Damon!_

"All I see is back!" Elena exclaimed.

"It's a hot back." Bonnie again.

"I've seen better." Claire shrugged. Even seeing him in person, Claire wasn't particularly impressed by him. And knowing what she knew about him...

"Who?" Bonnie asked her amused.

"Tyler, even if he's a douche! Have you seen him in jerseys during football practice?" Claire smirked again. Tyler had never been his favorite character in the show but she had to admit that he was pretty hot.

"Claire!" Elena exclaimed with a scandalized tone.

"What? It's true. I'm just being truthful!" Elena shook her head but she was smiling. Good, that was an improvement compared to what had happened in the first scene between Caroline and Elena. She was already improving things.

"I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar." Bonnie exclaimed with a fake faraway tone. Claire knew what she was doing but looked at her like she was crazy anyway. She needed to act like she didn't know anything after all.

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena asked Bonnie.

"What psychic thing Bonnie?" Claire asked her even if she already knew the answer.

"My gran thinks that I'm psychic. She said that our ancestors were from Salem or something like that."

"Really? Like, a real psychic?" Claire asked her.

"Yep. But I didn't believe her for a moment. She had probably too much to drink. Again."

"Here to messed up families!" Claire said without thinking then winced and looked at Elena. "I'm sorry Elena, I wasn't thinking..."

"It's okay." Elena answered but she had a pained expression on her face.

Claire didn't know what to say to remedy the situation so she didn't say anything.

They suddenly noticed Jeremy going to the bathroom and a guy exclaiming "Jeremy, good batch, man." Elena looked at his little brother for a moment and then said "I'll be right back." Claire watched her go with a sad expression.  _Poor Elena!_

The bell rang and she and Bonnie made their way towards their first class, History with Mr Tanner.  _Uh, I hope he's not such an asshole as he appeared in the show._

Claire really tried to pay attention to the lesson but her mind was already wandering without her realizing. She wondered if she would be able to go back home soon and how she had ended up there in the first place. A little part of her - the shallow part - wanted to stay there just to have the possibility of meeting Damon. She shook her head, trying to dispel those silly thoughts. She wasn't meant to be there, this wasn't her life. And Damon was meant for Elena anyway, not for her. Damon would never fall in love with someone like her. His types were beautiful brunettes who looked like his first love, not a blonde cheerleader like her. Even if Elena was kind of a bitch towards him. She was nothing special, just an ordinary seventeen year old girl like many.

She was distracted from her thoughts by a text message. It was Bonnie: NEW GUY STARING HOLES THROUGH ELENA'S HEAD! Claire automatically looked at Stefan and noticed that he was in fact looking at her brown-haired friend. Stefan, probably sensing eyes turned in his direction, turned to look at her. Claire immediately looked away.

"So, see you at the Grill later?" Bonnie asked as soon as History was over.

"Of course!" Claire answered without thinking again. Truth to be said, she didn't really want to go but she needed to follow the script no?

The rest of the school day passed uneventful and she was soon driving towards home. Once inside she called for Liz but she was probably still working. Claire sighed, she could understand why Caroline and her mum had such a difficult relationship. Her mother was absent most of the time.

Two hours later she was driving away again towards the Grill, Bonnie already waiting outside for her. They entered together and Claire was once again overwhelmed by a big sense of déjà vu. Everything was exactly the same as in the show, the places, the people in it. Maybe she had suddenly go crazy and she was in a sort of coma and all that she thought she was living was instead just inside her head but in reality she was locked inside an asylum like in that episode from Buffy. She shook her head.  _I am not crazy_.  _I have just ended up in a different reality or world or dimension or whatever, no big deal!_

Bonnie guided her towards an empty table and the two of them sat down. "So what have you found out about him?" Bonnie immediately asked her. Claire looked at her with a fake expression of confusion on her face. She knew perfectly well who Bonnie was referring to. "Who?"

"You know who. The new hot guy." Bonnie rolled her eyes at her but she was smiling.

"Fine. His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." She recited the exact same words Caroline had said in the first episode of Season1.  _Thank_   _God I've watched the vampire diaries' season1 more than once._

"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked her impressed.

"Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period." Claire answered with a smirk. "Even if I'm not excited as much as you are about him."

"How can you not be? He's so hot." Bonnie demanded scandalized.

"Yeah, I guess he's pretty handsome but I don't know...He's not really my type."

Bonnie looked at her with a disbelieving expression on her face but then widened her eyes and said. "You met someone." She exclaimed with certainty.

"What? No?" Claire immediately denied but then she thought of Damon and she immediately blushed.

"Ah! I knew it. Who is he?"

"There's no one Bonnie okay? It's so impossible for you to think that I may not be interested in Stefan?"

Bonnie stared at her suspiciously but she stopped pestering her.

Claire looked around her and in that moment she noticed a familiar blonde guy collect the empty glasses and bottles from a table nearby. Matt Donovan. She still so wasn't used to see all those people that until a day ago were just characters in a TV show she watched.

"Do you mind if I go to him? He seems so miserable." Bonnie asked her.

"Sure. I have my coke to keep me company." Claire answered, raising the glass she was holding.

She waved at Matt when she noticed him looking at them and Matt waved back, then Bonnie got up to talk to him about Elena. She remembered that conversation pretty well _. Poor Matt. The lives of these people really suck._  She thought, trying to avoid thinking that it was now her life too.

Not even ten minutes later she noticed Stefan and Elena entered the Grill and making their way towards Bonnie and Matt. They exchanged a few words and then Bonnie together with Elena and Stefan reached the table she was sitting on.

"Ehy Elena, who's your friend?" She teased her, getting up from the table. Elena blushed slightly and smiled. "This is Stefan Salvatore. Stefan this is my other best friend Claire Forbes."

Claire smiled at him even if she wasn't sure she really wanted to know him. Stefan extended his hand towards her and she took it. "What? No kiss on the hand Stefan? I'm disappointed."

"Claire!" Elena exclaimed embarrassed. Stefan didn't seem upset though, just amused. "Why did you expect me to kiss your hand? That kind of greeting has been outmoded centuries ago." He asked with a smile.

"I don't know. You just have that kind of look. Like your eyes has seen so many decades pass. And you could totally be one of the characters from an Austen novel."

"What, like Darcy?" Stefan asked smiling.

"Uhm, you have that broody look on you for sure but to decide what character really fits you, you will have to wait for me to know you better." Claire finished seriously, a decided warning on her voice.

"I accept your challenge, my lady!" Stefan exclaimed with a bow. Claire raised an eyebrow at that.  _Who knew Stefan had any kind of sense of humor?_

Soon they were all sitting down and asking Stefan questions about his life before returning to Mystic Falls.

" So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Claire asked him, already knowing the answer.

"Mm-Hmm. And moved when I was still young." Was Stefan's answer.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked this time.

"My parents passed away."

"I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Elena inquired with a compassionate tone.

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Claire asked, following Caroline's line but devoid of any flirty undertone.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained.

"Are you going?"Stefan asked, addressing Elena.

"Of course she is." Claire and Bonnie answered for her at the same time.

The next day they were in History class, again, and Mr Tanner was interrogating his students on the Battle of Willow Creek.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie looked startled at Tanner and said "Um . . . a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Most of his classmates laughed at that.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Tanner said nastily. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Matt answered calmly "It's ok, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." while shrugging his shoulders.

"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I-I don't know." Elena looked lost.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." Elena's face was a mix of angry, embarrassed and devastated at that.

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan answered for her.

"That's correct. Mister. . .?" Tanner was half-surprised and half-irritated that someone knew the answer to his question.  _What an ass!_

"Salvatore." Stefan replied calmly.

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

Stefan startled a little at that but answered anyway. "Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner said smugly.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." Claire smirked at that. That scene was always fun to watch, even if she had never liked Stefan.

"Hmm." Tanner glared at Stefan slightly but didn't say anything more.

The rest of the day passed uneventful and Claire was soon ready for the party. Just like yesterday morning she knew exactly what way to take to reach the waterfalls but at that point she just shrugged her shoulders and went with the flow. This was already the second day that she was there and still no sign of her going back to her real life.

She tried to mingle, waving at people who called her name - she was pretty popular at school after all - and drinking beer but not too much because she didn't want to end up drunk and make a repeat of what happened to Caroline at the party during the Pilot.

She finally noticed Bonnie and Elena standing near a keg of beer and decided to join them.

"Just admit it, Elena." Bonnie was saying.

"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty." Elena answered her with a little smile on her face.

"He has that romance novel stare." Bonnie continued. Claire rolled her eyes at that, knowing perfectly well who they were talking to.

"Who has the romance novel stare?" Claire asked her, just to join the conversation.

"Stefan Salvatore, who else?" Bonnie answered like it was obvious.

" Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Elena exclaimed ironically.

"Oh come on, are we really still talking about him?" Claire asked a little irritated.

"How come you're so set against him Claire? That's not like you at all. You would usually be all over him just because he's new and he's hot." Elena asked curiously.

"Are you calling me a slut Elena?" Claire asked sternly but with an ironic light in her eyes.

"What? No, of course not." Elena defended her words."I'm just saying that you usually like having guys vying for your attention."

Claire shrugged at that, admitting that it was true. "You're right. I'm shallow like that. But excluding the fact that Stefan's not my type, it would be a complete waste of my time, trying to get his attention because he's completely taken with you. But the reason why I'm so 'set against him' as you put it it's because... I don't know, I just think that he's hiding something. And I don't like people who lie even if by omission. There's something about him... I just don't trust him Elena. Don't ask me why but..." Claire concluded with a shrug, not knowing what to add without revealing the fact that she knew what Stefan was. She didn't want to boycott Stefan and Elena's relationship by any means, it was just that she already felt like Elena was her best friend - this being in 'The Vampire Diaries' thing was getting stranger and stranger by the minute - and she didn't want her to get hurt. Maybe trying to warn her a little would allow Elena to proceed with more caution so that she could be more prepared to face Stefan's revelation that he was a vampire a little better.

"So, speaking of Stefan, where is he?" Bonnie asked to interrupt the sudden silence that Claire's words had caused.

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one." Elena answered her with an amused smile.

Bonnie nodded mock-serious and said "Right, I forgot. Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait, you need a crystal ball." Elena stopped her with an hand and then looked around her for something resembling said crystal ball. She ended up deciding for an empty beer bottle. Bonnie took it from her, touching in the process Elena's hand by mistake. Bonnie immediately spaced out for a while and when she came back to her senses, she abruptly pull her hand back. Claire looked at this with a slight bored look on her face, having seen this scene a thousand times.

"What?" Elena asked bewildered.

"That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow." Bonnie answered with a faraway look.

"What?" Elena repeated.

"A crow. There was fog, a man." Still that faraway look but she snapped out of it and said "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." Bonnie run away in a second and Elena turned to look at her with a worried look on her face. "What was that?" Claire shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

Elena turned suddenly around and came face to face with Stefan.

"Hi." Stefan greeted. Claire looked at this with amusement.

"Hi." Elena said in response, clearly surprised by his sudden appearance.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. You're upset about something." Stefan inquired.

Elena shook her head at that. "Oh, uh, no, it's- it's just Bonnie. She's... You know what? Never mind. You're . . . here."

"I'm here." Stefan answered with a smile.

"I'm great too, thanks for asking!" Claire interjected with an ironic expression on her face.

Stefan and Elena turned to look at her, both looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, Claire. It's nice to see you again." Stefan said to her. "Nice save Stefan." Claire smirked at them both. "Well, I can see when I'm not welcomed so, I'll try to find Bonnie, see if she's okay. Have fun you two!" With that said, Claire left the two lovebirds alone and reached Bonnie, who was in that moment speaking with Matt.

"Hey Bonnie, Matt." Claire greeted them with a smile. Bonnie smiled in return but she seemed still a little shaken about what had happened. Matt just nodded her way but kept looking towards the fall, probably looking at Elena spending time with Stefan.

"Leave it alone Matt. It's over between you two. Elena is obviously moving on. Maybe you should do the same." Claire said bluntly to him.

"How about you mind your own business Claire? This has nothing to do with you." Matt exclaimed angry.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." Claire raised her hands in defense and kept silent.

Matt shook his head and then left without a word. Claire sighed. Yes, she was a bitch, she knew that, but Matt needed to hear it.

"Claire..." Bonnie said with a reproving tone. "Don't 'Claire' me. You know that I'm right. Matt needs to stop obsessing over Elena or he's going to end up more hurt that he already is. Elena is obviously very taken with Stefan and he's the same way towards her and, even if I don't totally approve of him, I know that it's Elena's choice and I'm sure that her choice is not going to be Matt. And Matt needed to hear that."

"Yeah, I know." Bonnie said in the end with a dejected look, obviously sad for Matt.

Meanwhile at the falls Elena and Stefan were talking. Elena was leaning over the bridge, looking at the water under her, Stefan besides her.

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town."Elena started the conversation.  
**"** Am I?" Stefan asked surprised.  
**"** Mm-Hmm. Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah."  
**"** Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness."  
**"** What makes you think that I'm sad?" Elena asked slightly defensive.

"Well, we did meet in a graveyard." Stefan said with a shrug.  
Elena smiled self-deprecatingly at that. "Right. Well, no, technically we met in the men's room. You don't want to know, it's. . . .it's not exactly party chit-chat. **"**  
"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, chit-chat."  
**"** Last spring. . my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but. . .they didn't. So that's my story." Elena finished sadly.  
**"** You won't be sad forever, Elena." Elena smiled slightly at that.

"I like Bonnie, she seems like a good friend." Stefan suddenly said looking towards Bonnie and Matt that were talking not far away from them.  **"** Best friend in the world." Elena said with a real smile this time.

In that moment they noticed Claire joining Bonnie and Matt.

"And Claire? Are you as close to her as you are with Bonnie?" Stefan asked curiously.

"With Bonnie it's easier I guess. Claire is a pretty complicated person. She can be a real bitch sometimes. She's often sarcastic and blunt but she's also really protective of the people she cares about. She's a very loyal friend."

"So, the way she behaved towards me, it's her normal behavior? Because I kind of thought she didn't like me." Stefan asked with a slight frown on his face.

"Oh, no. That was Claire being Claire. And she was... well...testing you I guess you can say. But don't take it personal. You'll get used to her."

"Oh, I'm not worried. She kinds of remind me of a dear friend of mine."

"Oh, well. That's great then, you'll be friends in no time." Elena wondered who that friend was but she didn't ask.  
**"** And Matt, he can't seem to, uh, take his eyes off of us." Stefan said hesitantly.  
Elena sighed at that. **"** Matt's that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourself to see if he can be more."  
**"** And?" Stefan asked curious.  
**"** And then my parents died, and everything changed. Anyway, Matt and I, together we just, I don't know, it wasn't, um. . .it wasn't. . ."  
**"** Passionate?"  
**"** No. No, it wasn't passionate. . ."

Suddenly Stefan's eyes started to change, taking on a strange red outline.  
**"** Hey, um, are you ok? Um, Your eyes, they just, they are-" Elena asked, looking at him strangely.  
**"** Oh, um... Yeah, no. It's, um, it's nothing. Um, are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." Stefan suddenly turned around and walked away without another word. Elena stared at the direction where he had just disappeared, wondering what the hell had happened.

Claire wandered a little in the woods, having the impression that she was forgetting something when she suddenly heard voices coming from somewhere to her left.  
**"** Vicky? No! Oh, my god, it's Vicky!" It was Jeremy Gilbert, Claire recognized his voice immediately. She suddenly realized what was that she had forgotten. How could she have forgotten that Damon would have bitten Vicky tonight? She run in the direction of the voices, hearing Elena scream.  **"** Oh, my god!"

"What? What is it?" Claire asked out of breath. Elena looked at her, then at Vicky's body. In that moment Vicky gasped for breath.

"What happened to her?" Claire said, looking at Vicky with a grimace. Seeing the scene in reality was really different than in a TV show. It looked awful.

"I don't know. It seems that something bit her on the neck." Elena answered.

"Come on, better get out of here. Help me carry her." Together her, Jeremy and Elena were able to bring Vicky's body out of the woods. Vicky had lost consciousness again.

"Somebody help!" Elena shouted.

"Vicky? Vicky, what the hell?!" Matt exclaimed frantic as soon as he saw the scene.

"What happened to her?" That was Tyler.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt shouted at the crowd that had formed around Vicky.

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler exclaimed, trying to turn people away from the scene.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood." Elena answered Matt's question.

"Vicky, Vicky, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt was saying to Vicky desperately. Claire turned away at that, suddenly feeling guilty even if technically it wasn't her fault.

Half an hour later Matt left in the ambulance with Vicky. Bonnie reached her side in that moment, a worried look on her face. "Ehy, how about we go to the Grill, wait for news?"

"Yeah. Let's look for Elena." Claire answered with an uncharacteristic grim tone. She was feeling a little sick. Seeing Vicky like this and knowing who was at fault for that, made everything suddenly seemed too real, and dangerous.

"Hey. We're gonna go to the Grill, wait for news." Bonnie repeated as soon as they reached Elena's side.

"I gotta take Jeremy home." was Elena's only response. Claire nodded at her.

"Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." Bonnie began suddenly very serious. Elena noticed her tone because she asked "Bonnie, what?"

"That it's just the beginning." She finished and it sounded suspiciously like an omen.

Bonnie drove them to the Grill, Claire having had a little too much to drink to drive safely. Not to say that she was drunk, just a little tipsy. Even if whatever buzz she had had completely disappeared when she saw Vicky bleeding like that.

"Hey, you've been silent the whole journey, are you okay?" Bonnie asked concerned once they took a seat at one of the tables.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. It's just... Seeing Vicky like that...it was awful. She was bleeding so heavily and the bite of her neck... I don't know, I think I'm kind of in shock."

"Yeah. I understand. What kind of animal could do something like this?"

Claire startled at that. "I don't know." She lied. "A really big one."

They stayed at the Grill two more hours without hearing anything from Matt. It was already late when they had arrived and now it was really time for them to leave. Liz Forbes was going to kill her.

"I'm going to pay the check. Wait here, I'll be along in a moment." Bonnie said before standing up and leaving the table towards the counter.

Claire sighed and looked at the table in front of her, playing slightly with the empty cup of coffee she had drunk to eliminate the effects of the alcohol she still had in her system. She suddenly felt a pricking on her neck, clear sign of someone watching her. She turned to her left and saw  _him_. He was smirking towards her and he was so beautiful that for a moment she forgot herself. "Damon..." She whispered. Damon frowned at that, his expression suddenly closed off and suspicious and Claire widened her eyes, realizing her mistake. She had whispered his name and while for everyone else, it would have been impossible to hear at that distance, Damon was not everyone else. He was a vampire. Suddenly her vision of Damon was obscured by Bonnie who had just now returned to their table.

"Ready to go?" Bonnie asked her. Claire nodded and got up. She took a look at the table where Damon was sitting but he had already disappeared like she thought he would. Claire cursed herself at her mistake. Having Damon suspicious of her was a really dangerous thing. Who knows what he would try to do to her now? The image of Vicky, bleeding and pale came to her mind and she shivered. How was she going to explain to him how she knew his name without revealing the fact that until two days ago Mystic Falls and everything in it was just a TV show for her? She needed to think of something, but most of all she needed to convince Damon that she wasn't a threat to him. Yes, what Damon had done to Vicky was awful and it was not okay but she knew the potential Damon had for good if only someone would give him a chance. And anyway she couldn't really blame him for what he did because...well... he was a vampire after all. And vampires needed human blood to survive. She just wished he hadn't chosen Matt's sister for a midnight snack. Claire shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about the events of today and go to sleep. After a lot of tossing and turning she was finally able to fall asleep, a pair of blue eyes in the forefront of her mind all night.


	3. Chapter 2 - Allies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a video about Damon and Claire - or as I imagined Claire looks like -. It's on Youtube, it's called 'Damon Salvatore/Claire Forbes - State of Seduction'. I'd really like if you'd checked it out because I spent a lot of time creating it.

****

**Chapter 2**

**ALLIES**

_"Allies with our backs against the wall_  
I will answer when you call  
And take on the odds  
For what we believe is true  
Allies in a world of too much choice  
I only need your voice  
To tell me you care  
I'll be anywhere for you, allies"

_**(Allies by Heart)** _

Claire looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand and sighed. Six a.m. How many hours had she slept last night? Two, three? She felt like crap.

It was already the third day in Mystic Falls for her and there was no sign of her going back to her real life any time soon. And the worst thing was? She didn't miss her old life as much as she thought she would. And that thought really scared her. Because except for her parents - who had never really being very present in her life anyway - she didn't miss much of her old life. On the contrary there were a lot of positive things about her life there. She had great best friends, her social life at school was practically the same one as the one she used to have at home. And then of course there was Damon. Not that she had any real contact with him except for their staring contest last night. But then of course she had to ruin everything by opening her big mouth. And speaking of Damon, what the hell was she going to tell him to explain how she knew him?

She thought about telling him the truth but something inside her knew that that was a terrible idea. She needed to come up with an excuse and fast. Or she could just write her own epitaph since she knew exactly the kind of reaction Damon would have about her knowing about him being a vampire. He would kill her without blinking, she had no doubt about that. So she needed to be smart. She needed to convince him that she had no intention of telling anyone about him and let him believe that she could be useful to him. That was the only way if she wanted to stay alive. Unfortunately she could have been useful to him if only she could remember what actually happened on the show. But unfortunately whatever send her there didn't want her to remember, probably so that she couldn't change things that were supposed to happen. She could remember some things vaguely, others pretty well and others, not at all.

She knew that she was missing a lot of the memories she had of the episodes. For example she knew that Damon was looking for Katherine - the vampire who looked like Elena and that turned Damon and Stefan in vampires in 1864 - and she knew that Damon believed that Katherine was locked inside a tomb, thanks to a spell created by Emily Bennett, Bonnie's ancestor. She also knew that Damon would be able to open this tomb in the near future but she didn't remember how he would be able to do that and if Katherine was actually inside or not.

She remembered something about a crystal, a crystal that belong to Emily Bennett. And her grimoire too. It was really frustrating. Of course, the right question would be in what way she could be useful to Damon. Well, she could help him entered the Lockwood Mansion to retrieve the crystal like what Damon did in the show. The problem was that she didn't remember what had happened after. Had Damon been able to open the tomb with the crystal and if yes, what was the use of the grimoire? No matter how many times she thought about it or how much she concentrated on remember the details, she wasn't able to. Most of it was a confused blur.

Then she had an idea. Damon would surely ask her why she could remember and/or know some things and not others so the only way to explain it would be if she had seen them in dreams. Dreams about things that had already happened and things that hadn't happened yet. It was perfect.

She got up with an accomplished smile on her face, satisfied that she had found the perfect solution. She got ready quickly and in no time at all she found herself inside Tanner's history class, enduring another boring lecture. This time it was about some kind of Comet that would have to pass over Mystic Falls the next day. She had the impression that the Comet was important somehow and she took a few minutes to realize why. The Comet had passed over Mystic Falls in 1864 and that was the way Emily had bound the spell on the tomb. It was the reason why Damon had to wait 150 years to have Katherine back.

She noticed Stefan and Elena looking at each other out of the corner of her eye. She still wondered what Elena found in Stefan that was so amazing but she shrugged, it was none of her business.

Suddenly their exchange of looks were interrupted by Tanner himself, who had obviously noticed them not paying attention to the lesson.

"Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?"

A second later the bell rang, signaling that the history lesson was over for the day.

Claire reached Bonnie's side and together they made their way out of the class.

"So, tell me again. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" She asked Bonnie out of curiosity.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so." Bonnie answered with a slight grimace.

"Why not? It could be. And anyway a lot of people would like to be in your situation. Being a witch would be really cool."

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of those people. Why, would you like to be a witch?" Bonnie asked her with a smile.

Claire smiled at her in return. "I don't know. I think it would be kind of amazing, having powers that the majority of people don't have."

While talking they had reached the courtyard outside. Claire noticed Matt sitting alone at one of the tables and decided that now was a good time to talk to him.

"Hey Bonnie, do you mind if I leave you for a few minutes? I want to talk to Matt."

"Sure. Just, try to be more tactful this time okay? His sister has just been attacked by some wild animal..."

"Ouch. You wound me Bonnie. Do you mean to say I'm insensible?" Claire asked her with a pout and a hand to her chest. Bonnie rolled her eyes at her and Claire smirked in return.

Claire took a deep breath before joining Matt at the table. "Hey Matt." She said hesitantly.

"Claire." Matt answered but his tone was cold.

"Listen, I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday..." She stopped for a second and then amended "Actually no, I'm not sorry about what I said. I meant what I said, I'm just sorry for the way I said it. I should have been more sensible. But tactfulness is not exactly one of my best qualities."

Matt shook his head at her but he had a slight smile on his face. "Yeah. It's not. But you were right. Elena doesn't have the courage to say it but it's obvious that it's really over between us. She really seems into this Stefan guy. But it still hurts you know?"

"I know. But, if it makes you feel any better, you're so much better than him. I don't really know what Elena sees in him. He's so broody and secretive." Claire said honestly.

Matt smiled for real this time.

"Matt...uhm...so, how is Vicky?" Claire asked hesitantly.

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow."

"That's great. This means she's recovering well."

"Yeah, it seems so."  
"And your mom? When is she coming home?"

"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so. . .we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure she'll be here as soon as she can."

"Yeah." Matt answered but he didn't seem convinced. "I still can't believe she's been attacked like that. And now there's even talk of some missing campers."

"Yeah. It's strange, isn't it?" Claire asked rhetorically. She suddenly felt guilty because she knew exactly what kind of 'animal' had attacked Vicky but she couldn't say anything. "Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" She asked suddenly.

"She said it was a vampire." Matt replied while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Really?" Claire felt like a stone had suddenly taken residence in her stomach.  
"Yeah, she woke up last night and muttered 'vampire' and then passed out."

"Well, that's weird." Was all Claire said in answer, hoping her voice wasn't really as high-pitched as it sounded in her hears.  
"I think she was drunk."

"Yeah, that must be it." Suddenly the both of them noticed Stefan and Elena talking not far from where they were sitting. Matt grimaced and looked away.

"Listen, I gotta go now. I have to go back to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night." Matt exclaimed while getting up.

"Yes, of course." Claire smiled at him and Matt smiled back. The conversation had been everything but light but Claire felt like she was floating on water. And were there butterflies in her stomach? She shook her head, telling to herself that she was being silly. She was just relieved that Matt wasn't angry with her.  
The rest of the day passed at a snail's pace.

After school Claire found herself sitting at a table outside the Grill with Elena and Bonnie. Bonnie was recounting what her grandmother had said to her about the Comet. "I was talking to Grams yesterday, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Well, I don't think it's fair blaming the comet for what happened 150 years ago. That poor comet was just minding its own business when it passed over Mystic Falls last time." Claire said with a serious face but her eyes were sparkling with humor. Elena laughed at that while Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Come on Claire. Can you be serious for just a second?" Bonnie said with fake exasperation. It was obvious she was amused though.

"Well, what do you want me to say? That we should lock ourselves at home because bad things are about to happen?" Claire said while shrugging her shoulders. "Let's talk about happier things instead. So Elena, you and Stefan, last night...what happened?"

"Nothing happened." Elena said with a shrug on her own.

"Nothing? You and Stefan were alone, in your house and nothing happened? You just talked all night long?"

Claire asked with skepticism.

"Yes." Elena said with a serious nod.

"You didn't even kiss?"

"Nope. We didn't go there."

"But why?" Claire asked bewildered. "Is he shy?" Then after a second, just to see Elena's reaction. "Is not gay, is he?"

Elena rolled her eyes too. "No, Claire, he's not gay. We're just going slow."

"Okay, fine. I will not insist. Just don't go too slow or stop altogether because you're scared okay? You like him, he likes you. Do not let anything or anyone stop you from trying." Elena smiled at her then she suddenly got up. "Where are you going?" Bonnie asked her curiously.

"Claire's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying that I was going to do."

Claire got up too. "I'll drive you." When she noticed Elena about to protest, Claire added. "Don't worry, I'll make myself scarce as soon as Stefan shows up."

Maybe she was being suicidal but she couldn't pass up the opportunity of seeing Damon up close.

The drive to the Salvatore Boarding House was brief and spent mostly in silent. Elena looked a little nervous but determined. As soon as they had parked the car in front of it Claire asked her. "Are you ready?" Elena nodded at her.

"I think so."

"Go get him tiger!" Claire joked just to relieve the tension. Elena laughed and widened her shoulders. "Right." She crossed the porch in front of the house, Claire following behind her, and she went to knock when the door opened as soon as Elena grazed her hand against it.

"Stefan?" Elena called out loud. "Stefan?" Claire kept silent, her heart beating a mile a minute inside her chest, impatient like herself. Suddenly a crow flew from inside the house directed against her heads. Claire and Elena moved to dodge and in the next moment Elena almost collided against Damon's chest. Claire withheld his breath, looking at him in awe.

He was even more beautiful up close. Maybe Damon wouldn't have liked to be called beautiful but every other adjective didn't seem enough to describe him.

"I. . .I'm sorry for barging in. The door was. . .open." Elena stuttered, surprised.

"Yes, sorry." Claire added. "We didn't mean to invade your house. We were looking for Stefan. Actually, Elena was looking for Stefan. I'm just the driver." Claire rambled slightly.

Damon turned towards her for the first time and stared, obviously studying her. His expression became suspicious for a second but then he smiled charmingly at her. "No harm done." Turning towards Elena he said "You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena seemed obviously upset at that.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." Damon replied. Then he turned his attention towards Claire. "I didn't catch your name."

"It's because I didn't tell you." Claire answered the imply question with a smirk. Damon looked amused at that. "It's Claire. Claire Forbes."

He was immediately suspicious again but then he cleared his expression. "Forbes uhm? You're part of a founding family."

"Yep. Like Elena. Like you and Stefan." Claire said, slightly defensive.

"True." He nodded, slightly appeased. "Please, come." He continued then "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." Damon indicated with an hand towards the inside of the house. Claire and Elena followed him.

"Wow. This is your living room?" Elena asked awed.  
"I bet it would make for a perfect football field." Claire added with a slight smirk.

"Claire..." Elena reprimanded her, embarrassment coloring her voice. Claire shrugged her shoulders, not the least bit repentant. "What? It was meant to be a compliment."

"She's right." Damon intervened. "It's a little kitschy for my taste." Soon after he shifted her focus towards Elena. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." Damon's tone was serious but his eyes were smirking.

"The last one?" Elena asked, a barely noticeable tremble in her voice.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon answered like Elena was supposed to know what he was talking about. Then he made a show of realizing that Elena did in fact  _not_  know who Katherine was. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." He said, pretending to be sorry and understanding at the same time.

Damon had very sneakily excluded Claire for the conversation but she was not offended. This was just Damon playing with Elena and at the same time trying to create a rift between her and Stefan.

"Nope." Elena had looked at her a second before answering. She seemed lost.

"Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound." Damon continued with a smirk.

"Or maybe he didn't tell her because they met like...two day ago" Claire intervened.

"Oh, I hope for Elena's sake that you're right Claire. Because otherwise, we all know how those kind of relationships end."

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." Elena said then.

Damon smirked at her. "I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan." Elena and Claire turned around at his last words. Stefan had arrived without neither of them noticing.

"Elena. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan said to Elena.

"You're making it a habit of pretending like I'm not here Stefan. I would feel offended but...I'm not here to see you so..."

"I'm sorry Claire." Stefan said, almost robotically, but his gaze hadn't moved from Damon since the moment he had come inside the house.

Elena intervened in the conversation then "Stefan, I'm sorry if I have arrived without warning you. I know I should have called, I just..."

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But. . .I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon said to Elena, obviously just to irritate Stefan.

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena, Claire. It was nice to see you." Stefan said like Damon hadn't talked. He was still staring fixedly at his older brother.  
"Yeah, we should probably go." Elena said, her tone discomfited. "It was nice to meet you, Damon." She added then.

"Great meeting you, too, Elena." Damon took Elena's hand in hers and kissed her but his eyes were turned towards his brother and he was smirking.

"Claire." Damon added then, before doing the same thing to her hand. When Damon's lips touched her skin, Claire shivered and Damon obviously noticed that because he winked. Claire made a show of rolling her eyes at him but it was obvious to both of them that she was affected by him.

Elena tried to bypass Stefan to reach the door but Stefan didn't move. "Stefan!" Elena called but Stefan seemed not to hear her. "Stefan!" Elena called a second time and finally Stefan moved to let them pass. Elena shook her head, obviously bewildered by his behavior but didn't say anything. Claire looked one last time towards Damon before joining Elena and the two of them left the Boarding House together.

"I can't believe Stefan never told me he had a brother!" Elena ranted as soon as they had got into the car.

"Maybe he wanted to tell you but he was trying to find the right moment... I mean, we both saw that those two have serious problems..." 'Problems' were an understatement but Claire didn't want Elena to realize that she knew more that she was saying.

"Yeah, what was the deal with that? Stefan barely looked at me. He was obviously irritated that I went to the Boarding House... And what about that girl Damon mentioned, Katherine? Why Stefan did not tell me about her?"

"Elena, you met two days ago...calm down. You can't expect for him to tell you all his life history the first day you two met."

"Yeah, maybe. I don't know...I just..." Elena started but then stopped, obviously at a loss for words.

"Please try not over-dramatize what happened today okay? And let him talk to you, let him explain...don't shut him out okay? I'm sure he has a good explanation for all of this..." Claire cringed at her own words, almost feeling like she was lying to her. But she didn't really know what to say. Part of her really wanted to tell her to run away as fast as she could from Stefan but she couldn't because it was Elena's choice and she didn't want to interfere. Although maybe encourage her to be with him wasn't the best choice either. She was really confused about what the best choice was in this case.

The drive was short and soon Claire was stopping the car in front of Elena's house. They waved each other good bye, promising to see each other the next morning - it was a Saturday - to handing out pamphlets for the arrive of the comet.

She arrived home and found it empty. Claire settled something for dinner just for herself and sat in the sofa to watch a little TV before starting her homework and then go to bed. She knew it was pretty useless to wait for Liz, she would have stayed at work till late, like usual. Claire was there already three days and she had spent a total of an hour with Liz Forbes. It was a little sad.

The next morning found Claire and her two best friends in the town square, handing out fliers. Elena had spent yesterday evening rethinking about what had happened with Stefan and what she was supposed to do now. Claire had already told her what she thought about that and she didn't have any intention to meddle any further.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked Elena in that moment.

Elena shook her head, no at that. "Or text. But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie agreed.

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway." Claire rolled her eyes at that and Bonnie wasn't any better.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Bonnie's right. Waiting for the perfect time would mean growing old waiting..." Claire added, because she really couldn't help herself.

"I'm not ready guys." Elena defended herself with a dejected look.

"Who is?" Bonnie asked rhetorically in turn.

"At least I put myself out there." Elena continued. Claire and Bonnie exchanged a look skeptically.

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"Yeah, I call it fear. You're terrified." Claire added.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, now defensive.

Bonnie shrugged at that. "All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't."

"Exactly." Claire finished. The three of them dispersed a moment later, passing out pamphlets to the people walking through.

It was in that moment that Claire noticed him. Damon, standing on the other side of the road, on the opposite direction from where she was standing. They stared at each other for a few seconds until some people passed in front of her, covering his figure from her view. When her visual was free once again, she looked where he was standing a second ago but he was gone.

Soon the evening of the comet was upon them. Claire was distributing candles around to all the people gathered there.

"Here, I got some candles." She said to Elena, passing one candle to her and then moving on.

After a few minutes she came face to face with Matt and she smiled at him, suddenly flattered.

"Hey." She said to him shyly.

Matt smiled at her in return. "Here." He said, bringing his lightened candle closer to hers.

"Thanks!"

"So, you've been busy uhm? Organizing all this?" Matt asked her with a smile.

"Elena and Bonnie helped." Claire answered with a shrug.

"Yes, of course. But we both know that you're the one who always organize and take care of those kind of things. I never really thought about it but you must be very busy. And you always have the highest scores possible at school..."

"What? You thought the only things I care about are shopping and gossip? You must think me very shallow..." Claire joked but she was a little hurt.

Matt winced at that. "I'm sorry, I just...we've known each other since we were little and yet I know so very little about you. Maybe I just didn't take the time to know you..."

"Yeah, well. We both know all of your attention has always been taken by Elena." She winked at him and Matt smiled in embarrassment.

"Hey, can you take a break? We could go at the Grill and drink something..." Matt asked her hesitantly.

"Sure." They entered inside but they immediately noticed that something wasn't right. Tyler Lockwood and Jeremy Gilbert were arguing. Jeremy was asking around about Vicky, probably worried about her since she had just gone back from the hospital and she was supposed to be working at the Grill that night but she wasn't there.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy asked them as soon as they were inside.

Tyler was just behind him. "You're her stalker. You tell us." He was derisively.

Jeremy ignored him. "I can't find her."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced." He mocked him.

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena, who had just joined the scene with Bonnie, asked.

Tyler turned towards her. "Ask him."

Jeremy huffed, exasperatedly. "You wanna do this right now?"

"Are you dealing?" Elena pried, obviously not about to be deterred.

Tyler turned his attention towards Jeremy. "She's never gonna go for you."

"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy answered smugly.

Claire followed the scene in front of her like it was a match of ping pong. Matt was rigid besides her, obviously not liking they were talking about his sister.

"Yeah, right." Was Tyler's only response. He didn't want to believe Jeremy but it was obvious that a part of him did.

"Wait, you slept with Vicky? Vicky, as in Matt's sister, your sister's ex-boyfriend's sister...weird..." Claire exclaimed because she just couldn't help herself. Then she winced because she didn't mean to sound rude. "Sorry..." She said to both Jeremy and Matt.

"There's no way." Tyler said, shaking his head.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy exclaimed, shocking Matt.

Matt tuned his furious glare towards his best friend. "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?"

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk." Tyler defended himself but he looked guilty.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt asked in the end.

"Yeah, you're right. Bonnie, you're with me?" Claire said, turning towards Bonnie.

"Yeah." Bonnie agreed. Then she added towards Matt. "We'll check the back."

Matt nodded. "I'll check the square."

A moment later they were walking around but there was no trace of Vicky. Claire had again the sensation that she was forgetting something. It was a feeling she was experiencing too often lately.

An hour later Matt warned her that Vicky had been found wandering around by herself and that she had been found by Stefan. It was in that moment that Claire remembered what had by now already happened. The confrontation between Stefan and Damon on the roof.

They decided to go back inside and order something to drink. Claire rethought about Matt's offer for drinks with a little regret, since they hadn't even been able to sit at a table, let alone found the time to order something.

"Do you think Vicky's okay?" Claire asked Bonnie, once the two of them had sat at one of the tables near the entrance. "Matt looked so worried."

"I think so." Bonnie answered with a shrug.

"Don't you think it's a little weird? Jeremy and Vicky? Not that Tyler would ever win the award for the best boyfriend on the planet. He's such a jerk and he treats her like crap. And the worst thing is... she lets him.." Claire rambled on, just to fill the silence.

"Yeah." Was Bonnie's concise answer.

"Excuse me. Hi." Stefan, who had just reached their table, interrupted.

"Hi." Bonnie and Claire greeted him together.

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" he asked them hesitantly.

"I think she went home." Bonnie answered, then continued, her tone a little excited. "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her... 'I said so'."

"Thank you." Stefan smiled at her. Bonnie wrote Elena's number and email on a napkin and then she passed it to Stefan. When their hands touched, something weird happened. Bonnie's look became blank. A moment later she got up without explanation, a scared look on her face.

"You ok?" Stefan asked her.

"Bonnie?" Claire asked in turn.

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked Stefan. Then she continued a second later. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me." She left the Grill without any explanation.

Stefan looked at Claire for an explanation but she didn't know what she was supposed to tell him. Explaining to him that Bonnie had a vision about him would bring attention to the fact that Claire knew things she wasn't supposed to know.

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out." She answered lamely. "It's like her thing." She shrugged.

Stefan left a few minutes later and Claire, left alone, decided that it was time for her to go home.

While walking through the parking lot to reach her car, she heard a noise. She stopped, suddenly worried, especially because she just knew that she was forgetting something - again - something important. She shook her head and continued walking. When she had almost reached her car, she heard it again. She stopped, the car keys she had in hand falling to the floor.

She knelt to collect them but once she was standing again, she realized that she was not alone anymore. Damon was standing in front of her, leaning against her car.

"Damon." She whispered, startled and now a little scared.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Damon exclaimed with a smirk, coming closer to her.

"Yes, you did." Claire replied, her voice strong but her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Yeah, maybe I did." They looked at each other for a few seconds, sizing each other up but then Damon broke the silence again. "You own me some explanations, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you mean." Claire said in return, pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Oh, I think you do. For example two days ago, you were sitting at the Grill and you noticed me looking at you. You recognized me, in fact you said my name. And yet we never met before yesterday."

Claire kept silent and Damon rolled his eyes at her. "How did you know who I was? But most of all, what else do you know?"

Claire sighed. "Enough." She said at last.

"Enough?" Damon glared at her. Claire winced slightly but decided that was now or never.

"I'll tell you everything. But you have to promise not to kill me. Or hurt me in anyway."

"Ah, so maybe, you do know enough." Damon stared at her a few seconds, probably debating if it was better for him to kill her now or waiting until he had satisfied his curiosity. Then, having come to a decision, he sighed. "Fine. I won't kill you or hurt you in any way until you tell me what you know."

Claire rolled her eyes at that. "I see a loophole there as big as a house but fine. I can't expect anything better, at least for now."

Damon smirked at that but didn't comment.

She kept silent for a few seconds, trying to order the ideas inside her head, knowing that she needed to lie flawlessly because it was necessary for her to survive. Then finally, she started speaking. "

Please, don't interrupt me 'till I'm done." She warned him. Damon nodded at her, giving her the go ahead.

"I know that you and Stefan are vampires. I know that the two of you were turned by a vampire named Katherine Pierce in 1864. Actually it's not exactly like that. You two were in love with her and when the town council found out about her and about the other vampires in Mystic Falls, they captured them, Katherine included. And when you two tried to save her, your father shot you. You would have died that night but since the both of you had Katherine's blood in your system, you woke up in transition. Stefan completed his transition by feeding on your father." Claire grimaced at that and Damon smirked, amused. He looked astonished but he was able to hide it well.

"You didn't want to turn because the only reason you wanted to be a vampire was because you wanted to spend eternity with Katherine but since you were convinced Katherine was dead, you had no reason to become a vampire anymore. But Stefan forced you to turn and you hate him ever since. Once you completed the transition, Emily Bennett - Katherine's servant and a powerful witch - told you that Katherine wasn't dead after all. Emily was able to save her and all the other vampires thanks to a spell. She enclosed them all inside a tomb and bound the spell to a comet. The same comet that has passed over the town tonight. You came back to Mystic Falls because you want to free her. You're here only because you want Katherine back. And maybe to torment Stefan since you promised him an eternity of misery. And the reason why I know all of this is because I have visions. Dreams to be exact." Claire finished in a deep breath.

"You have visions?" Damon asked her skeptically.

"Yes, visions. You are a vampire, you met witches and you're skeptical because I have visions?"

Damon nodded at that. "Point taken. So, you have visions about the past, my past?"

"Yes, and Stefan's. I just saw a few things. They started the day before you and Stefan arrived to Mystic Falls. I have visions about the future too. But they are very vague." Claire explained, lying through her teeth. Damon seemed to buy it though.

"Uhm, and what did you see?" He asked her curiously.

"I know you'll be able to open the tomb somehow. I don't know anything else though. Not yet, at least. But I could be useful to you." Claire tried then.

"Useful how?"

"Well, for example I know that the crystal you need to open the tomb is inside the Lockwood mansion. And you need an invite to enter. There's a founding party in a couple of weeks... You could be my date. You will be able to enter then..."

"Uhm... that's really tempting but you really know too much. How do I know you won't tell everyone what I am? Your mother, first of all." Damon asked her with a dark look. He wasn't attacking her though so Claire considered it a win.

"Because I didn't yet. I had all the time in the world to tell my mother about you but I didn't. After all my mom is the sheriff and she's part of the council... And, not to threaten you or anything but I think the disappearance and/or killing of the sheriff's daughter would bring a lot of attentions to the new comers, don't you think?" Claire asked, surprising herself with the ease she could talk about her possible murder.

"Yes, I guess you're right. And I have to admit that you didn't tell anyone anything about me. I can't help but wonder why though. You obviously know that I am the one who is responsible for those 'animal attacks'"

"Yes, I know. But I didn't tell anyone because..." She hesitated a little before continuing. "Well, Stefan is a vampire too and I don't want him to get hurt. Elena is in love with him and she would suffer if something'd happen to him."

"Uhm. Yes, it make sense, I guess. You're a very loyal friend. You don't like Stefan but you aren't interfering because you know Elena likes him." At Claire's surprised look, Damon smirked.

"I observed you, these couple of days." Damon admitted with a shrug.

"Oh. Well, then. Are you going to kill me?" Claire asked him then, to break the awkward silence.

"No, I don't think I will. Like you said, you could be useful to me. And I have to say, I admire your courage. There aren't a lot of people willing to negotiate with a vampire." He really seemed impressed.

"Well, thanks, I guess." They stood like that for a long moment, looking at each other, then Claire - tired of the silence - said "Well, I better go now. My mom would be wondering where I am...Unless you need me for something..."

"No, it's fine. I'll contact you if I do." Damon said before adding. "I like this alliance we have going on. A beautiful girl ready for me at my every whim..." he did that thing with his eyes, looking at her suggestively.

Claire rolled her eyes at him but she was smiling.

"All right." Damon was about to disappear when Claire called him back. "Damon, wait!" Damon stopped and turned towards her.

"What?" He asked her, maybe a little irritated.

"Could you please refrain from attacking the people I care about? Please?"

"I can't promise you anything. But I'll try." Damon replied with a smirk thrown her way.

"Fine." Claire rolled her eyes at him. "See you around then Damon."

"Yeah, see you around, Claire." He was there a moment and the next he was simply gone.

Claire sighed in relief that everything had - more or less - gone according to plan, then retrieved her car keys, opened the car and drove towards home. She would think about the consequences of her actions tomorrow, now she only wanted to go to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3 - Of Monsters and Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a video about Damon and Claire - or as I imagined Claire looks like -. It's on Youtube, it's called 'Damon Salvatore/Claire Forbes - State of Seduction'. I'd really like if you'd checked it out because I spent a lot of time creating it.

****

**Chapter 3**

**OF MONSTERS AND MEN**

_"Sun's come up_  
_And there's no one else around_  
_Meet me in the shadows_  
_Won't you tell me what you found_  
_You've got everything to lose_  
_Yeah I'm waiting on you"_

**(Where the Lonely Ones Roam by Digital Daggers)**

Claire woke up Monday morning with a smile on her face. She got up from the bed, standing in front of her wardrobe to choose what to wear for the day when she suddenly heard knocking from her window - her opened window -. She turned around curious and then gasped at what she saw.

"Damon!" She looked at him, perched on the tree in front of her window like an overgrown crow, and shook her head. "What are you doing here?" She asked him, coming closer to him.

"Invite me in Claire or your mother will end up seeing me and who knows what she'll think of a man outside her daughter's window..." He was smirking, of course. It seemed he found the situation amusing.

"Fine. Come in Damon." She said while rolling her eyes at him, exasperatedly.

"Thank you." He entered inside her room with the grace of a predator and looked around himself curiously. Then, once he had finished his perusal of her room, he turned his attention towards her and stared, his gaze going up and down her form, before he whistled, loudly. She widened her eyes at that, blushing furiously when she realized what she was wearing, a skimpy black chemise and nothing else. At least it wasn't see-through.

"Get out!" She screamed at him while trying to cover herself.

"I can't! Your mother is still inside the house. And keep your voice down or she'll come upstairs to investigate!" Damon answered with nonchalance, still looking at her.

"Great! Fantastic!" She turned around and grabbed the first things she spotted from inside her wardrobe before closing herself inside the bathroom.

"Don't you want company?" Damon called out from outside the bathroom's door.

"Shut up!" She shouted in return, hearing Damon laughed at that. She took the chemise off and she entered inside the shower, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt the water cascading gently down her body. She was still red in the face, mortified at what had just happened. She showered quickly before starting to get dressed. At least the clothes she had chosen were nice, a pair of leather leggings and a long cream top paired with black high-heeled ankle boots. She applied a veil of make up on her face and she brushed her hair quickly before finally going out of the bathroom.

"You're dressed, that's a shame..." Damon complained with a pout. Claire fought the urge to smile and glared at him instead.

"What do you want Damon?" She put her hands on her hips too for emphasis.

Damon shrugged at that. "Nothing, I was bored."

"I have to go to school Damon, I don't have time to entertain you..." She looked at the clock and widened her eyes at the time. "Oh my god! It's eight thirty! I'm late! I'm beyond late! What the hell happened to my alarm clock?"

"It stopped ringing an hour ago. You really sleep like the dead, you know?" He gave her a wink at that.

"How long have you been outside my window exactly?" Claire asked him with a furious glare.

"A while. I had to wait for your mother to leave the house."

"But you just said..." Claire tried to say before being interrupted by him. "I lied." Damon said with a shrug of his shoulders, unapologetically.

"UUH! You're infuriating!" She glared at him once again.

"Actually I'm here for another reason too. I need to feed from you." He told me with a straight face like his request was perfectly normal or acceptable.

"You what?" She asked him in disbelief.

"Well, you said you don't want me to feed from the people you care about and I imagine you don't want me to feed from and kill strangers either right?" He asked rhetorically but she shook her head no anyway at that.

"Right. And I need to  _not_  attract attention to myself now that I'm so close to have Katherine back, so I'll refrain from feeding on the Mystic Falls' population. But I have to feed from someone and I thought, since we have this collaboration going on or whatever, I think this is the best solution, don't you agree?" He continued, still smirking.

"What about blood bags?" Claire asked him, maybe a little desperately, trying to find an alternative solution to the one that meant she was about to become a human blood bag.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll feed from blood bags too but I need warm blood directly from the vein to stay strong so..."

Claire took a deep breath but she nodded in the end. "Fine, just don't take too much, okay? I have cheer practice lately, and I'm the captain so... And do not stain my clothes! Blood is a bitch to clean off..."

It was Damon's turn to look at her astonished. Then he shook his head and smirked. "You really are a real life Barbie, are you?"

Claire felt offended by that. So what if she cared about her appearance, that didn't make her a Barbie. "Don't call me a Barbie ever again. And for your information, it's also in your best interest for me to behave normally, and for me to show up at cheer practice tired and with shadows under my eyes, not to mention bloodstained clothes at school, would be everything but unsuspicious."

Damon raised his hands in a sign of peace at that. "You're right! I'm deeply sorry for having called you a Barbie. You're actually pretty smart even if you're a blonde!"

"Do you have something against blondes?" Claire asked him, still offended.

"Of course not. Actually blonde cheerleaders and sorority girls are my favorites..." He did his usual thing with his eyes, causing Claire to roll her eyes at him. "You're a pig, Damon!"

"I know! So, how do we do this?" Damon asked her, rubbing his hands together. He looked...excited was probably the right word.

"How long ago did you feed?" Claire asked him, suddenly noticing his pale complexion. "You look... a little pale. Well, paler than usual at least."

He looked surprised at her words, probably not used to someone that worries about him, especially not in these kind of circumstances. "You're really strange, you know?"

Claire shrugged her shoulders at that. "I've been called worse." Then she continued. "The bed is fine I think."

"Oh, the bed is more than fine..." Damon interrupted her suggestively. Claire huffed at that but she was smiling. "I meant, for sitting on. Do you want to feed from my wrist or...hum...my neck?" Her heart had suddenly started to beat fast inside her chest. She didn't know if she was more scared or excited.

"The neck. Feeding directly from the carotid artery, I can reach the blood more easily and feed for a shorter period of time."

"Right." She took a deep breath before sitting on her bed, a little rigidly. Damon followed soon after and sat next to her. They were suddenly face to face.

Claire moved her long blond hair over one shoulder, leaving the other side of her neck free for Damon to bite.

Damon came closer to her, his face immediately changing. Long, purple veins appeared under his eyes, his eyes became red and fangs suddenly sprouted out from his gums.

Claire looked at him fascinated. It was one thing for her to see it on TV, another, very different thing was to see it happen right in front of her eyes.

"Relax." Damon whispered to her, before coming even closer to her neck. Claire shivered when she felt his lips on her neck but the sensation didn't last long. An instant later she felt his teeth piercing her skin. It hurt, a lot, and she tried not to scream, even if some whimpers escaped her mouth. Damon brought her closer to him, his arms encircling her waist. When he started to pull the blood out, she felt the difference. It was like a rush. It wasn't exactly pleasurable but it was a powerful sensation, and it didn't hurt as much. Too soon though her head began to spin and dark blotches started to appear in front of her eyes.

"Damon!" She tried to call him but her voice was feeble. Damon seemed to hear her though because a moment later she felt his fangs retracting.

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly. His voice was strangely kind.

"Yes. Just, give me a minute!" She answered. Her head kept spinning and she felt a little sick.

"I'm sorry, I was hungrier that I thought." Claire looked at him surprised at that. Damon was not one to apologize easily. Or at all actually. Except when it came to Elena, of course. "Here!" He said then, biting his wrist and offering it to her. "My blood will heal you. Just...try not to die while you have it in your system okay?"

Claire looked at his wrist for a second, undecided but then she brought her lips closer to it. She started sucking the warm fluid from it, surprised that it didn't taste as awful as she thought it did.

She found her gaze wandering to Damon and she noticed he had his eyes closed, a look of slight pleasure on his face. Claire felt a friction of satisfaction knowing that she was the one responsible for putting that expression there.

Too soon, she felt the wound on his wrist closing and she moved away, licking off the remaining blood from his skin first though.

"Thank you." She whispered, her breath suddenly short.

"You should clean up, you have blood on your neck and near your mouth." Damon said once he had opened his eyes again. He seemed a little out of breath too.

"Right." Claire got up then, a little unsteadied on her feet, when Damon's voice stopped her. "Or I could lick it off if you want."

"No thanks." Claire answered, rolling her eyes at him once again. She cleaned off quickly and reentered her bedroom. Damon was not sitting in her bed anymore but was now rummaging inside her dresser. Claire got to him quickly when she noticed him pull out a black lace bra from it. She took it from him quickly and put it in its place again. Damon smirked at her but raised his hands in surrender.

Claire looked once again at the time and cursed loudly. "Damn it! I skipped practically all the morning lessons, great! I might as well show up just for cheer practice! And I have to change clothes once again! That's absolutely perfect. And thinking that I actually got up in a good mood this morning!"

"It means I'll see you in your cheerleader's outfit?" Damon asked her with a smirk.

"No. We don't practice in our cheerleaders' outfits. And you're not coming anyway so, that's kind of a moot point."

"Oh come on. I'll drive you to school!" He pleaded, making a cute, little face with his lower lip jutting out and his blue eyes suddenly bigger.

"Fine." She relented, once again trying to suppress a smile. "You can drive me to school, ogle my teammates for like, two seconds, and then go! Are we clear?"

"Yes, madam!" He nodded, mock-serious.

Claire shook her head one more time and then reached her walk-in-closet once again. She retrieved a pair of white shorts and a simple red top with her white tennis shoes from it and she locked herself in the bathroom once again. About twenty minutes later she returned to her room, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Come on, I'm ready." She noticed Damon looking at her bare legs but she didn't say anything.

"Damon" She asked a moment later, suddenly remembering the fact that he had probably come to her house on foot. "What about your car?"

"I brought it here while you were in the bathroom."

"Oh, all right." They left the house together and reached his blue Camaro. "Nice car!" Claire looked at it in awe. It was exactly as it was in the TV show but like with everything else, it was so much better seeing it in person.

"Isn't it?" He said in answer, like a proud papa. He immediately got in the driver seat, starting the engine, and Claire sat next to him on the other. Its hood was lowered and she could feel the wind caressing her face, the air was warm and pleasant. She closed her eyes, relishing in the sensation.

Too soon they reached the football field behind the school. Her teammates were all there already, stretching before practice and obviously waiting for her. She spotted immediately Bonnie and Elena talking to themselves, a little away from the others. They immediately spotted her too because she saw them widening their eyes when they noticed she had arrived in a car with Damon.

Claire smirked to herself and turned towards him. "Well, Damon. Thanks for the ride but I have to go now."

"Are you sure I can't stay?" He asked her, his face suddenly very close to hers.

"Nope." She smiled cheekily at him and kissed his cheek, just for show, since she knew their friends were watching them. Damon looked surprised at that but he didn't say anything.

Claire gave him one last look before descending the car. She reached her best friends and smiled at them. "Ehy guys. Sorry I'm late, I was...hum..busy."

She turned one last time towards Damon when she heard his engine started again and noticed him winking at Elena and obviously checking her out. Claire smiled a little sadly to herself since she knew perfectly well that no matter how much she wanted otherwise, she knew that this was the way it was supposed to go.

Right in that moment Damon turned his attention towards her and waved at her with a smile. It seemed a sincere smile too and for a second Claire stayed rooted in her place, surprised by his gesture. A second later, Damon was moving the car away from the parking lot and driving away.

Claire shook her head, almost as if she had just woken up from a dream and exclaimed out loud "All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say? And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Ok? Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."

* * *

"So, you and Damon Salvatore hum?" Elena asked her out of the blue as soon as practice was over and they were in the locker room, changing.

"If you're asking if we're together... the answer is no. We're just...friends I guess." Claire tried to explain but it was a little difficult since she couldn't tell Elena a damn thing about what was really going on.

"Just friends? Really? It didn't seem that way from where I was looking."It was Bonnie this time, a raised eyebrow in her direction to express her skepticism.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked with an innocent look.

"Well, first the way he was looking at you...or the way you were looking at him when he smiled at you. And that kiss on the cheek..." Bonnie continued with a smirk.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Trust me, nothing is going on between me and Damon. And anyway I noticed him checking out Elena so... why don't you do the third degree to Elena too?"

Bonnie at that point turned her attention towards Elena, exactly like Claire wanted. "Stefan's brother was checking you out?" She asked shocked. Elena looked embarrassed at that but she didn't say anything.

"Yep. He even winked at her. But maybe he just did it to irritate Stefan. Those two have issues..." Claire continued, trying to change the subject.

"Issues how?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"It's probably because of a girl. Right Elena?" Claire asked, turning towards her best friend.

"Right." Elena nodded then she added out of the blue. "Ehy Claire, I'm doing dinner at my place tonight, with Bonnie and Stefan, you want to come? And you can invite Damon too if you want."

"Yeah. Okay. But why are you having dinner with Bonnie and Stefan?"

"Ask Bonnie." Was Elena's only answer.

"Bonnie?" Claire asked her curiously even if she did remember why Elena had organized this dinner. The strange thing was that she had been invited. She remembered that in the TV show, Caroline had actually crashed the dinner with Damon in tow.

"Do you remember the party at the falls? When I touched that beer bottle and I said to Elena that I saw I crow and fog... Well, I had some kind of vision then. And it happened again. When I touched Stefan's hand the day before yesterday." Bonnie exclaimed, a little reluctantly.

"A vision? About what?" Claire asked her, surprised that Bonnie was revealing so much to her.

"I don't know. I didn't see actual images, they were more like... feelings." Bonnie tried to explain.

"Feelings?" Claire looked at Elena because she hadn't say anything since Bonnie started talking.

"Yeah. Bad feelings. I don't know how to explain this..."

"Yeah, and I organized this dinner because I want Bonnie to realize that Stefan is a good guy. But maybe your presence will help. I don't know about Damon's but... it seems rude not to invite him too since he's Stefan's brother and you two are apparently friends." Elena interjected.

"Elena... not to side with Bonnie here or anything but...have you ever thought about the fact that maybe Stefan isn't what he appears to be? What he wants you to think he is..." Claire asked hesitantly.

"Claire, you too. I thought you had warmed up to him. Two days ago you were encouraging me to be with him and now this..." Elena said with an exasperated tone.

"I'm not saying to stay away from him or anything. I'm just saying that maybe you should just be open to the possibility that Stefan is not exactly what he appears to be. But that doesn't mean this is necessarily a bad thing. I'm just saying to be cautious. But, you like him and he likes you so, like I said before, nothing else should matters, okay?"

* * *

Meanwhile, just after football practice, Stefan had just returned home and had just reached his room when he noticed that it was already occupied by his brother...reading his diary while sitting at his desk. Stefan gritted his teeth but Damon was the one to break the silence as soon as Stefan entered the room.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many... adjectives." Damon mocked him, still browsing through his diary. Stefan was upon him immediately, snatching the diary out of his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked irritated.

Damon stood up, his face turning serious "I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us."

Stefan looked at him, half hopeful and half suspicious, leaning more towards hopeful though. But immediately soon after Damon burst out laughing and Stefan shook his head, disappointed.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." He tried to reason.

Damon looked at him almost in pity. "Of course it doesn't." he stopped talking for a second before continuing. "I saw Elena today, BTW. That means 'by the way'. She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Stefan glared at him at that, about to interrupt him when Damon continued. "Just... simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now. Claire. You know Elena's best friend right?" He asked rhetorically with a smirk. "Damn, that girl is so hot. Ooh, that reminds me... I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." He finished before leaving the room.

* * *

Claire had just returned home and had entered inside her room when she noticed Damon laying on her bed, browsing through one of the books in her bookcase.

"Really Damon? Are you going to make a habit of that?" Claire asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Damon put the book down and turned around to her, like he hadn't heard her arrive. "Claire, finally home I see. Good. At what time is the dinner at Elena's house?" Damon asked with an impertinent smirk.

"How do you know about that?" Claire asked surprised.

"I read Stefan's diary." Damon shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Right. Of course you did." She rolled her eyes at that before continuing. "It's at seven thirty. But, are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course I do. And pass the opportunity to torment my little brother by making him know that I have an invite to his beloved Elena's house? Never."

"You're not going to hurt her though, are you?" Claire asked him, her tone suddenly cold.

"Relax, I'm not going to lay a finger on her."

"Okay. But please, try not to ruin dinner okay? I mean, for Elena. I don't really care about Stefan..."

* * *

Damon parked his car in front of Elena's house and Claire sighed in anxiety, this dinner was so not a smart idea.

"Relax Sunshine. This dinner will be fun." Damon said, noticing her mood. "You'll get to see Stefan's face assume different shades of red and of course the lines on his forehead will have doubled by the end of the night..."

Claire smiled slightly at that, amused by Damon's description of Stefan. She was about to descend the car when she found Damon already at her side, the car door already opened. "Uhm, to what do I own this gentlemanly behavior?"

"You're my date for the night.. and I was brought up in the 1860's. I'm a southern gentleman at heart..." Damon smirked at her and Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course. Gentleman my ass."

Damon looked shocked for a second at her words and then burst out laughing.

They made their way together to the front door - Claire with dessert in her hands - and rang the bell. A few seconds later Elena was opening the door and smiling at them.

"Hey, we were just about to start. Perfect timing as always. As soon as Stefan arrives, we can begin." Elena said with a smile in greeting.

"You know me Elena. I'm a control freak." Claire answered with a wink. "This is Damon..but of course you've already met him..." She continued a little awkwardly.

"Yep. Nice to see you again Elena." Damon interjected then. "And thanks for inviting me."

"You're Stefan's brother, and you're friends with Claire. I couldn't  _not_  invite you." Elena said with a shrug.

Damon smirked at that and answered - his gaze turned towards Claire - "Fair enough!"

The moment was interrupted by Stefan's arrival. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed Damon and said with hostility in his voice "What are you doing here Damon?"

Claire looked at Stefan and Damon - one glaring and the other smirking - and rolled her eyes. "Calm down boys. Damon was invited, Stefan. And Damon please, try not to goad your brother further!"

"As you wish Sunshine!" Damon said to her with an amused smile. Claire turned towards Elena. "Well, aren't you going to invite us in?" Elena, that until that moment was looking at the scene in front of her with an astonished look on her face, now shook it off and said "Yes, of course. Come in Stefan, Damon, Claire. It's all ready already so we can begin to eat."

"You mean you order in and put everything into plates so they seemed like homemade meals." Claire teased her with a smile.

"Claire!" Elena cried out in exasperation while swatting her shoulder playfully. "It was supposed to be a secret." They looked at each other and started laughing aloud. Claire noticed Damon's gaze on her face but didn't turn to look at him.

"You have a beautiful home Elena." Damon said to her once inside.

"Thank you!" Elena said to him with a smile and a slightly surprised expression.

Claire spotted Bonnie as soon as they entered the living room and greeted her with a smile. "Hey, Bon-Bon!"

Bonnie smiled at her but she looked uncomfortable - probably because of Stefan's presence -. They all sat together around the table filled with fuming plates and started to eat. Damon sat next to his brother and in front of her with Stefan sitting in front of Bonnie and Elena at the head table. There was a stilled silence for awhile - Damon looking amused at the tense silence around him - until Elena broke the silence. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" She said towards Stefan.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan answered with a shrug.

"Oh, don't be modest Stefan. You're a great football player." Damon said with a smirk. "I taught you after all." Stefan glared at him and didn't reply. Damon smirked at him unrepentant.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..." Elena tried to engage Bonnie in conversation then.

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie interrupted in a flat tone and Elena deflated a little.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Claire tried then.

Bonnie looked at her with a glare and answered towards Stefan "Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."

Claire rolled her eyes and Elena interjected "No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

Bonnie grimaced "Cool isn't the word I'd use."

Stefan intervened in the conversation then "Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really? Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

"I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?" Bonnie's voice was a mix of curious and defensive.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan said a little pompously. Claire exchanged a glance with Damon at that and tried not to laugh. Damon seemed to have the same problem. Bonnie seemed impressed though. "Yeah, they are."

"I think it's possible my ancestors knew one of your ancestors Bonnie..." Damon said then. "Emily Bennet?" His tone was casual but it was obvious that his intent was anything but. Claire shot him a warning glare but he ignored her.

"Yeah. Emily Bennet was one of my ancestors." Bonnie looked surprised at that but was Stefan that looked the most astonished. They finished eating in silence and then moved to the living room to eat dessert.

Elena sat with Bonnie in a sofa while Damon took possession of the other and Stefan of an armchair. Claire looked undecided for a second before going to sit next to Damon.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team Stefan." Claire said just to break the awkward silence. "I mean, after what happened in class I thought he pretty much hated you." She kept rambling. "Tyler must be seething, I bet. But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him." Damon intervened from besides her. "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." His tone was exceedingly sarcastic and Stefan glared at him with all the force of his hazel gaze.

"And Elena, not to be a bitch or anything but the game is tomorrow and you really, really need to learn your routines. I could put you in the back if you want to but you're such an amazing flier that it would be a shame." Claire apologized to Elena with her eyes but Elena smiled at her, obviously not upset.

"I'll work with her Claire. She'll get it, don't worry." Bonnie replied instead.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon exclaimed then.

"What, just because she's not blonde?" Claire replied in Elena's place. "We really have to do something about your stereotype against blondes that you have going on." Damon smirked at her, once again amused by her light banter. "Anyway Elena is one of the best cheerleaders in the team if you want to know. Besides myself of course" She stuck her tongue out at Elena in a sign of joke and then continued. "But I guess when you face something like the death of your parents a thing like cheerleading lose its significance right?" Then she winced at her normal bluntness. "Sorry Elena." Elena shook her head at her but her eyes were focused on her lap.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon introduced himself in the conversation. His tone was apologetic but it was obvious that he had just said what he did just to rile Stefan up. Claire kicked him for that without being seeing, but Damon didn't even seem to notice.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan said, his tone cold and his posture tense.

Damon faked an expression of apology but he was obvious that that was exactly the reaction he was hoping to get from his brother. "Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm."

* * *

"One more." Damon said, stretching his arm with the glass in his hand towards Elena Gilbert - Katherine's look alike -.

Elena turned to look at him and smiled. "Thank you." Damon pretended to give her the glass and instead let it drop before catching it quickly with one hand.

"Nice save." Elena said, laughing slightly.

"I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time." Damon said just to get her to open up with him. He had to admit that the last thing he was expecting was for him  _not_  to feel pain while looking at Elena. After all it was like looking at Katherine's face and yet, maybe because Elena was so completely different from Katherine - personality wise - that he was perfectly able to separate the two from his mind.

"Earlier, did you mean... Katherine?" Elena asked him then, obviously having caught on what he had meant before.

"Mm-hmm." Damon nodded at her.

Elena looked at him with compassion before asking him hesitantly. "How did she die?"

Damon sighed at that, flashes of long ago memories passing through his eyes. "In a fire. A tragic fire."

"Recently?" She asked then, obviously curious.

Damon smiled ironically at that before answering "It seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

Damon smiled slightly at that. "She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department." He said towards her and noticed Elena rolling her eyes slightly at him. He smirked before continuing. "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

Elena looked at him intently for a second while passing him a plate to put in the dishwasher. "So which one of you dated her first?" She asked then with a slight smirk. Damon looked at her surprised for a second before smirking too. "Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." Then after a pause he added. "I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

Elena looked at him surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable." He said with a shake of the head.

"You saw that? I thought you were too busy ogling Claire to notice anything else." She said with a smirk. Damon shrugged his shoulders unapologetically and said "Yeah, well, what can't I say? She looked damn sexy in those shorts. But don't change the subject. I don't think I saw wrong, have I?"

Elena sighed at that before answering. "I used to love it. It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"So don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da."

"Some things could matter again." Elena said with conviction.

"Maybe. But... seems a little unrealistic to me." Damon answered with a nonchalant tone.

Elena sighed - obviously she wanted to say something but didn't know if should - then, probably finding her courage she said "I'm sorry." Damon looked at her questioningly and she continued "About Katherine. You lost her too." Damon looked at her surprised, once again taken off guard by a seventeen year old girl and he couldn't help but rethink about what had happened that morning with Claire.

Damon had to admit that he had been taken completely off guard by Claire Forbes. The first time he had seen her - at the Grill - he had thought she was exactly like every other beautiful blonde airhead cheerleader, shallow, without a single original thought in her head and, of course, the perfect prey for the kind of monster he was. So finding out that she knew exactly who he was and that she had decided to negotiate with him, was more than a little mindboggling. And the strange thing was, she kept surprising him. When he had showed up in her room that morning just to feed from her, everything he was expecting besides her being  _worried_  for him. When was the last time someone had worried for him? He couldn't remember. And the thing was, she hadn't once appeared disgusted or scared by his request. She had accepted things at face value and she had trusted him not to hurt her. Damon really didn't know what to think about her.

The moment was interrupted by the arrival of Bonnie Bennett - Elena and Claire's witchy friend - and the fact that he hadn't even noticed her presence spoke a lot about how much he was immersed in his thoughts. He suddenly heard from the other room Stefan talking with Claire and decided that it was time for him to join her side again. The idea of her spending time alone with his brother irritated him for some strange reason.

"Matt is trying you know? He's a really great guy, nice to everybody. But it's a pretty difficult situation for him you know. Elena was Matt's high school sweetheart. They had been together since freshman year and Matt was probably imagining a future with her too. He was absolutely serious about her. So you know, if he's giving you the cold shoulder is because he's still hurting. But give it time, I'm sure you'll be friends in no time..." Claire was saying in her usual bubbly way. She had the capacity to face the most serious subjects in such a blunt way that sometimes even he was surprised. But she was never hurtful or mean, just very, very honest and Damon had to admit that he liked this in her. He didn't need to worry about her sincerity. If she needed to tell you something, she would do it and that was it.

Damon was brought out of his thoughts when Stefan said out of the blue "That's a really nice scarf." He said, pointing at the red scarf around Claire's neck. He noticed Claire looking at Stefan strangely at that, even if she had probably understood what Stefan's intention really was. Damon smirked at that. If his brother hoped to find something to incriminate him, he was going to be very disappointed.

"Mm. Thank you, it's new." Claire said in answer, taking one hem of said scarf and started playing with it.

"Can I see it? I mean, would you mind taking it off?" Stefan prodded then.

Claire's gaze at that point was comically bewildered, like she was worried for Stefan's sanity - or his sexuality -. Damon really tried not to laugh aloud at that. "Hum, okay." Claire took off her scarf and handed it to him - Stefan looking at her more than a little surprised at that - and Claire asked. "Why are you so interested in a woman's scarf Stefan? Is there something I need to know? Or Elena maybe? I mean, you don't have some kind of women clothes' fetish right?" Damon put a hand against his mouth at that point, trying really hard not to make a sound. Stefan's face was priceless, absolutely priceless.

"What?" He asked with vehemence. "No. I mean, I was just...I was thinking about buying a gift to Elena and I noticed your scarf.. Do you think she would like something like this?"

"Oh. Sure. Girls always like scarves and bags and shoes. You can't go wrong with that. But you need to know Elena's shoes size so if you want to gift her with something, a scarf would be more than okay." Claire bubbled on, an amused - almost mocking - smile on her lips, obviously at Stefan's expense.

Damon decided that now was the time for him to intervene. "What are you two kids talking about?"

"Stefan was particularly interested in my scarf Damon. He wants to buy Elena a gift." Claire said with a pointed look his way.

"Hmm." Damon looked at her for a second before saying "Hey, you know, um, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?"

Claire looked relieved at the idea of being far away from Stefan and immediately stood up. "Great idea." And she was off to the kitchen, leaving him and Stefan alone in the living room.

"So, trying to figure out if I fed from her hum?" Damon asked casually.

Stefan glared at him and replied. "I know you did. What I don't understand is why you would bother to heal her after."

"Well, believing it or not Claire wanted to avoid arriving at school with bite marks all over her neck. She said it would attract too much attention. And of course she's right." Damon answered, not denying the fact that he had fed from her but not telling Stefan that he had Claire's permission.

"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to." Stefan said with another glare and an annoying disappointed look.

Damon glared right back and answered coldly "Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

Stefan sighed at that, trying to placate him. "All right, you've had your fun. You used Claire, you got to meet Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."

Damon shrugged "That's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me." He said, the threat plain in his voice.

* * *

It was the next day - the day of the football game - and Claire was running around, making sure that everything was ready. She was wearing her cheerleader uniform and addressing her team mates, the last corrections to the choreography before the beginning of the game. She noticed immediately Elena and went to join her. "And you're not in uniform because..." She said with her hands on her waist. Elena looked guilty back at her.

"I'm quitting. Sorry, Claire but I can't be a cheerleader anymore." Claire sighed back at her before saying. "It's okay Elena. I understand. Just, why didn't you tell me? That you weren't having any fun anymore. I mean, I never intended to force you to do anything..."

"I know. It was me. I wanted things to get back to how they were before but... it's not working. Everything's different."

Claire looked back at her and hugged her. "I love you, you know that right? I just want you to be okay." Elena hugged her back "I know."

After a few words exchanged between them, she left Elena's side. She noticed Damon in the crowd and decided to join him. "Hey, what are you doing here? I'd never imagine you to enjoy high school football games." Damon looked at her up and down before replying "And miss the opportunity to see you in your cheerleader's outfit?"

Claire rolled her eyes at him. "You're trying to irritate Stefan, are you?" Damon shrugged at that. "Talking about my little brother, great scene yesterday, with the scarf. I never seen Stefan so embarrassed in his life. Really amusing." Claire smiled at him. "That was fun I have to admit. But don't change the subject... I'm all for you tormenting Stefan but leave Elena out of it please!"

"I'm not going to hurt her, Claire. I promised you, didn't I?" Claire looked at him suspicious for a second before nodding at him. She knew at that point that she was forgetting something - again - but she couldn't do anything about it besides trying to do damage control in case things went badly somehow. She couldn't stop things from happening since she didn't know  _what_ was going to happen.

"You better go, the game's about to start." Damon said and Claire nodded at him. "Yeah, you're right. Please, behave!" She said then before going back to the space in front of the back door of the locker room. Bonnie was there and she immediately joined her side. A few seconds later Elena joined them. "Hey! Where you been?" Bonnie immediately asked her.

Elena didn't answer her question and instead asked a question of her own. "Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?"

"Of course. What is it?" Bonnie answered bewildered. Claire looked at the two of them, suddenly remembering where this conversation was going.

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction..." Elena continued.

Bonnie shook her head at that. "You know what, forget I said that. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, Or..." Elena looked really worried by that point. Claire looked at the two of them like it was a tennis match.

"It wasn't clear like a picture." Bonnie tried to explain "Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about... 8, 14, 22."

Elena nodded at her "Yeah?"

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it..." Bonnie stopped, shivering a little.

"And what?" Elena spurred her on.

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." Was Bonnie's gloomy response.

"Elena, what happened? What brought this on?" Claire couldn't help but ask in the end.

"You'll think I'm crazy." Elena said, shaking her head.

"Elena..." Claire insisted.

"Fine. Tyler and Jeremy were fighting over Vicki, like it has become usual lately. Jeremy pointed a broken bottle towards Tyler at one point and Stefan came in the middle of them to stop them. Jeremy was pointing at Tyler but... I thought Jeremy cut Stefan's hand with the bottle, I was sure of it. I saw the blood and.. everything went so fast but I was sure of it, but when I asked Stefan to see his hand, it was completely clear, there was nothing there. There was blood in it but no wound. He said it wasn't his blood and that Jeremy missed him but I'm not so sure. I know it seems unbelievable but..." Elena stopped for a second and shook her head. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

After hearing this from Elena, Claire really wanted to tell her everything but she knew she couldn't. She promised Damon that she wouldn't tell anyone about him and Stefan being vampires and anyway it wasn't her secret to tell. Stefan needed to find the courage to tell her himself. Claire didn't like the fact that Stefan was basically lying to her best friend and that she was practically forced to do the same.

* * *

Elena had just reached her car to retrieve her jacket from it when she heard a noise behind her and turned around, slightly scared. She sighed in relief when she noticed it was only Damon.

"You scared me." She told him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm hiding from Claire." Damon whispered conspiratorially to her.

Elena looked at him strangely at that, convinced that Damon and Claire were getting along, thanks to their similar sense of humor. "And why is that?"

"She's so excited about this football game that I'm afraid she's going to try to convince me to wear a cheerleader's uniform. Or join the team with Stefan..." Damon said with a lopsided smile.

Elena smiled at that. "Yeah, she can become a little overexcited about this kind of things. But that's Claire for you. The little busy bee."

"Well, she's still young."

"Not much younger than you are." Elena looked strangely at him again.

Damon smiled at that. "This friendship that me and Claire have going on. I don't know how much it's going to last. I think she'd drive me crazy in the long run."

Elena was quick to defend her friend, now starting to get annoyed with Damon. "Claire does have some annoying traits, but we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me." She noticed Damon frowning at that - almost like he was angry at what she had just said - but the next moment his expression was clear and he was saying "Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

Elena frowned at him, now really annoyed. "Yes, it is. Otherwise you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

Damon smirked at that- "You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you."

Elena raised her eyebrows at this "Really?"

"Mm-hmm. I see them. You want me."

"Excuse me?" She asked, incensed.

Damon came closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes. "I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me." Elena startled at that, almost guiltily. "And right now... You want to kiss me." Elena stared at him, almost transfixed for a moment while Damon came closer and closer to her. Then the next she was slapping him with all her might, right in the cheek. Damon looked at her completely astonished, like he couldn't believe he had been rejected so forcefully.

"What the hell?" Elena demanded outraged "I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it." She came closer to him and pointed a finger against his chest "And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight... I am not Katherine." With that said, she threw one last, angry glare at him and left him there, in front of her car, his astonished expression still planted on his face.

* * *

Damon looked Elena go, still massaging his cheek and wandering what the hell had happened when he heard her voice saying to his left. "So, I'd drive you crazy hum?" Damon looked at Claire and noticed with a wince that she had a pissed off look on her face. "What the hell were you thinking?" She exploded then. "Going after Elena like that? Do you want her to find out what you are?"

"I couldn't have known that Stefan had given her vervain." Damon responded irritated. Claire rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, because Stefan was going to leave Elena completely defenseless after all the threats you made against her in his face."

"Fine. Okay. It was stupid of me. I was just having some fun." Damon said with a shrug.

Claire looked at him like she thought he was monumentally stupid but he let it slide. She wasn't completely wrong after all.

"How did you know where I was anyway?" He asked her, suddenly realizing that particular fact. Then a moment later. "Did you know that was going to happen?"

Claire smirked at him. "Yep."

Damon glared right back at her. "And why didn't you warn me then?"

"And pass the opportunity to see you getting slapped by Elena? Please. And anyway no harm done, no? She just thinks you're a jerk now." She was looking so smug that it was almost cute.

"Ah. Ah. I get it, you're getting your revenge for what I said to Elena about you..."

Claire didn't deny his accusation and he continued. "I didn't meant what I said. Not really. I mean, you're kind of weird..." Claire stuck her tongue out at him for that but he smirked and went on "But I like this collaboration we have going on. Even If I still think you'd drive me crazy in the long run."

"Please, if there's one who has to worry about her mental health, that's me. You're impossible!"

"Don't you have a game to cheer for?" Damon asked her suddenly.

"Oh, crap! You're right. I can't be late, I'm the captain. Bye Damon!" Damon watched run at top speed and shook his head. Really strange girl.

Suddenly he heard his little brother talking with that blonde guy - Elena's ex boyfriend - and he decided to join him. He was still irritated because of what had happened with Elena. Taunting his brother would definitely help him feel better. He started clapping as soon as the blonde quarterback was out of the way and said "Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!'" He mocked him, agitating his arms in the air for good measure.

Stefan barely spared him a glance. "Not tonight. I'm done with you." And he was about to turn his back on him when Damon continued "Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace? I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Does it matter?" Stefan asked back.

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way." Damon said just irritate his brother further. "Or I could just... eat her." He finished with a smirk.

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan said, his tone certain.

"No?"

Stefan came closer to him, confident in what he was saying. "Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?" Damon asked, now starting to get irritated. Stefan had a way to get under his skin with his oiler-than-though attitude.

"Then kill me." Stefan proposed, his arms open wide in invitation.

"Well, I'm... I'm tempted." Damon replied, suddenly uncertain.

Stefan looked smug at that and in him that expression served only to infuriate Damon further. "No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity." He finished with emphasis. Damon saw red at that, hating the fact that Stefan could bring Katherine up so nonchalantly after what he had done. He was the reason Katherine had spent the last 150 years locked inside a tomb.

The moment was interrupted by the team's coach that had obviously noticed Stefan's absence and had decided to search for him since the game was about to start. "Salvatore!" He shouted at Stefan. "What the hell? We've got a game to play!"

Damon looked at Stefan darkly before using his vampire speed to appear behind the man "If that's my humanity..." He said towards Stefan "then what's this?" Before pouncing against Tanner's neck like a rabid animal. In a few seconds the man was dead at his feet.

"Anyone, anytime, anyplace." He said towards Stefan, his rage momentarily abated. In a moment he was gone.

* * *

Claire had returned home filled with anger against Stefan and Damon in equal measure after she had found out what had happened to Tanner. She had suddenly remembered the scene between the two brothers in the TV show, especially Stefan's words that had led to Damon attacking Tanner. Now she was trying desperately to fall asleep but without much success, tossing and turning and filled with too many thoughts chasing themselves in her head.

After more than a hour she was finally able to fall asleep before being woken up by someone caressing her cheek gently with one hand. She bolted immediately from her laying position and looked around at her dark bedroom. No one was there but her bedroom window was open. She stood up to close it and then shrugged. Maybe she had just imagined it. She went back to bed and this time she was deeply asleep in seconds. She slept peacefully all night.


	5. Chapter 4 - Trust and Mistrust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a video about Damon and Claire - or as I imagined Claire looks like -. It's on Youtube, it's called 'Damon Salvatore/Claire Forbes - State of Seduction'. I'd really like if you'd checked it out because I spent a lot of time creating it.

****

**Chapter 4**

**TRUST AND MISTRUST**

_"Under investigation, lies a bitter heart_  
Let the poison sink it, let it leave its mark  
There used to be a likeness, used to be a spark  
Broken communication, let it go too far"

_**(Bad Intentions - Digital Daggers)** _

_Elena woke up suddenly, hearing a noise coming from outside her room. She got out of bed to check if there was someone in the house besides her aunt and brother. She looked around herself, trying to find the origin of the noise. "Hello? Jeremy? Hello?" she called out but nobody answered her. The hall was shredded in darkness so she tried to turn on the lights but the power seemed to be out. She suddenly heard the sound of the TV that was apparently on. "This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack". She made her way downstairs until she reached the living room. She noticed another person there, sitting on the couch, the only visible thing was the back of her blonde head. "Claire? Is that you? What are you doing here?" No answer. She circumvented the sofa to looked at her face to face, breathing deeply to calm her nerves. She was scared of what she was going to find. Claire had her eyes closed, almost like she was sleeping but her neck had a deep, gashing wound and her clothes were bloodstained. Elena screamed, rooted to the spot. "The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim, local high school student Elena Gilbert. Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks." She heard coming from the TV. She turned around to see her photo smiling back at her from the screen. She got away from the couch and started to leave the room when she heard a voice from behind her."You know what's coming next." It was Damon, his face monstrous. Elena screamed and tried to run away from him. She tried to open the front door to leave the house but Damon was too fast. He slammed it shut with force. Elena tried to run up the stairs but Damon was on her in a second. He grabbed her from behind and bit her neck._

Stefan woke up with a gasp at the nightmare to find Damon looking at him from the end of the bed.

"Bad dream?" He asked, smirk firmly in place. "Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field." Then with a mocking grin he added. "Football reference. Too soon."

Stefan stood up from the bed and threw the paper knife he had on his desk directly to Damon's chest. Damon seemed to barely notice the pain, looking at the knife embedded in his chest like it was a mere annoyance before pulling it out and looking at it curiously.

"All right, I deserved that." He said with a shrug. "But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for killing coach Tanner and all those people."

Stefan looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"  _'What animal? He is the animal responsible_ ' Stefan thought with a grimace.

"Haven't you heard? It was a mountain lion. Really big one." He answered sarcastically "It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls'." He finished with a smirk.

"Why would you cover your tracks?" Stefan asked, even more confused than before.  
A strange look passed over Damon's face for a second before he went back to smirking. "It's a form of apology for a promise I didn't keep." He answered cryptically before adding "And I've decided to stay a while. I'm just having way too much fun here with you and Elena and Claire."

"You can't touch Elena now. And stay away from Claire. You have already hurt her enough."

"I don't think Claire would agree with you. And regarding Elena...well, the vervain keeps me out of her head sure. But maybe that's not my target." He said while walking towards the door. "Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style, my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift." He finished sarcastically.

Before leaving the room, Damon stabbed him with the paper knife he had still in his hand. Stefan fell to the floor with a gasp, trying to breathe through the pain. "This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move." He commented before finally leaving the room.

Stefan removed the knife from his chest before starting to write in his diary.  _'The real animal is still out there, waiting for me, challenging me to fight back, to stop him. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?_ ' He needed to find a way to stop Damon, and soon, because Elena and everyone else in Mystic Falls was in danger.

* * *

Claire and Bonnie entered the Grill while talking about the founder's party of that evening.

"So, you're taking Damon to the founder's party? I thought you two were just friends." Bonnie asked her while they sat at one of the tables.

"And we are. But Damon wanted to go. I don't know why, and he asked me if I could be his date. That's it. Nothing more than that." Claire invented on the moment. She certainly couldn't explain the real reason why she was going with Damon at the party or why Damon really wanted to go.

"Hum, are you sure there's nothing more between you two?" Bonnie asked with a smirk.

"Yes, Bonnie. I'm sure." Claire answered while glaring at her persistence.

"Okay, okay. But what about me? Who am I supposed to go with then?" Bonnie asked with a slightly plaintive tone.

"Go with Elena." Claire answered with a shrug.

"She's asking Stefan." Bonnie said like she was supposed to know that already.

"Right, of course she is." Claire said while rolling her eyes. "Ok then, ask Matt maybe? Or some other guy at school. Or go by yourself, I don't know."

"Gee, thanks. And what about your mom? Is she ok with you bringing Damon?" Bonnie asked with a pointed look.

"She doesn't know, of course. And why should I care anyway? She can't tell who I can or can't be friends with. "

"I don't think your mom would see it like that. He's older sexy danger guy."

"Older sexy danger guy?" Claire asked while raising her eyebrow and grinning amused at Bonnie. "Is that an official witch twitter tweet?"

Bonnie grimaced at that "No more witch jokes, ok? That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked."

Claire sobered instantly at that, realizing that Bonnie's newfound powers weren't something easy for her to deal with. "Ok, I'm sorry. And Damon's not dangerous." Claire lied. "He just has a lot of issues with his brother."  _'Understatement of the century' "_ You know, like major, deep-rooted drama."

"Like...?" Bonnie asked curiously.

Claire cursed her big mouth, realizing she had said too much already. "I shouldn't say anything. It's not actually my business. Forget I said anything, okay?"

"Claire Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie asked with a smile.

'You'd be surprised' Claire thought with a grimace but decided to tell Bonnie something about Damon without actually revealing too much about him. When the time would come for Bonnie to find out what Damon and Stefan really were, she needed to understand that Stefan wasn't really better than Damon. That the 'good brother, bad brother' dynamic thing wasn't actually true, no matter how much Stefan wanted to believe or make everyone believe otherwise. "Ok. But you can't tell Elena." She warned in the end.

"Fine, now tell me." Bonnie agreed immediately.

"Well, Damon and Stefan some years ago were in love with the same girl. Katherine. But Damon was the one who actually dated her first. Damon alone wasn't enough for Katherine though. She wanted both of them. Stefan knew that Damon was in love with Katherine but he didn't care. He just wanted her for himself so he simply let himself be seduced by her. They were best friends once, you know? Then Katherine came and everything was ruined. Now, I'm not saying that Katherine wasn't at fault because of course she was. She played with the both of them. She was selfish and manipulative. But Damon and Stefan were the ones who let her played her games. Damon was completely in love with her. He still is. And he actually accepted the fact that Katherine was at the same time with his brother because he loved her so much. But Stefan, he was never really in love with her. He wanted her sure, but that's it. And he knew what Katherine meant to Damon but he didn't think about that. He was only thinking about himself and what he wanted. But then Katherine died and Damon is still mourning her, even now. He can't stop loving her. While Stefan...he didn't need a lot of time to get over her death. Stefan just destroyed his and Damon's relationship because he was selfish and simply took what he wanted."

* * *

Claire heard the window of her bedroom being opened and knew who it was without the need to turn around. After all, there was only one person who entered into her room from the window.

"Go away Damon. I don't want to talk to you." She said without looking at him. She was looking through her wardrobe to find an appropriate dress for the founders party, the one she was supposed to go with Damon to.

"No yellow. Jaundice." Was Damon's only answer while coming closer to her. He was obviously referring to the dresses he could see inside her wardrobe. She could feel his breath on her cheek, he was so close. "Go for the blue. It will bring out your eyes."

She turned around to glare at him. "I'll wear whatever I want If you don't mind. I just need Mrs Lockwood to let you in right? That's the only thing I'll do. Then you're on your own. I don't actually consider you my escort for the night so I don't need to match your tux." She finished sarcastically.

"Still angry with me, are you?" Damon asked her with a puppy look that Claire found adorable, even if she would never tell him that.

"Are you surprised? You killed Mr Tanner!" She shouted at him.

"Oh, come on, you didn't even like the guy. Nobody did actually, for what I can understand." Damon tried to defend himself in his twisted way.

"That's not the point. A couple of words from Stefan were enough to make you snap. You can't go around killing people every time your brother pisses you off."

"You saw that hum?" Damon asked her with a penetrating look.

Claire deflated a little at that, her anger partially disappearing. "I know that what Stefan said made you lose control and I understand why. He tried to use what you feel for Katherine to manipulate you into doing what he wanted. And the idea of him - the person you consider responsible for what happened to her - talking about her so nonchalantly, almost smugly...I understand" She finished a little awkwardly. Damon was looking at her with an intense expression on his face that almost made her blush. He was like he was seeing her for the first time. He seemed almost...touched by what she had just said. Like he wasn't used to people understanding his actions and motives. And maybe it was exactly like that.

Claire couldn't let him think he was out of the hook yet though. He needed to understand what he had done was not okay. He couldn't keep going around killing the citizens of Mystic Falls and she couldn't keep lying to everybody and cover for him. "But that doesn't mean that I condone your actions Damon. You promised me that you wouldn't kill anybody else."

"Actually, I promised that I would try." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Claire glared at him before continuing. "Yes, well, I can't keep lying to everybody and cover for you. I know that I put myself in this position, I get it but...every time Bonnie or Elena talk about the attacks I just...make up excuses because I know exactly who's responsible. I mean, you almost killed Matt's sister, Elena's ex-boyfriend. Trust me both Elena and Bonnie have questions and now that Elena's dating Stefan...it's even worse. And I'm forced to lie, over and over again. And you're making things even more difficult for me by going around killing people. And maybe I'm selfish, maybe I'm a horrible person because I care more about the fact that your actions are affecting me than the fact that people are dead but, I can't help it. I hate lying to my best friends. Please, can you just...reign in your anger and try to ignore Stefan's digs? Please! You are perfectly able to control yourself when it comes to bloodlust but where emotions are in the way..." She let the last sentence hang over them, allowing him to make his own conclusions about it.

Damon sighed before nodding. "Okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like I did. It certainly didn't help with my desire to not let the people of Mystic Falls know that I'm a vampire...But Stefan has the capacity to push my bottoms like no one else."

Claire smiled at that. "I know. Stefan is very irritating. I still can't see what Elena sees in him. He's the most boring vampire ever. Except when he's high on human blood. Then he's just crazy."

"You know about that?" Damon asked surprised.

"I saw some things. Just flashes but...it was enough." Claire wondered once again at her capacity to lie so easily and naturally. She didn't exactly like to lie but...it was her only choice at the moment. She wondered if she would ever be able to return home and even if she actually wanted to. Life here was hard but it was also intense in a good way. Going back to her life as 'Little Miss Blonde Perfect' after everything she had lived through would be like trying to wear a pair of shoes that didn't fit anymore. It wouldn't work, she knew that.

"So, are you going with the blue then?" Damon asked her, obviously as a way to ease the tension in the room.

"Yes, but only because I like it better." Claire answered with an impudent smirk. Damon smiled back at her and the argument of a few minutes ago seemed to be forgotten.

"Good. Because if I'm going to be your date..." Damon started with a smirk but Claire interrupted. "Ah, ah, I wouldn't exactly say date. Like I said, I'm just going to get you an invite in the Lockwood mansion. I don't expect you to dance with me or anything. And it just so happens that my mother would be there and she is a very proud gun owner."

"So? If she shoots me, I won't die." Damon said with a shrug.

"Sure. And that would be completely unsuspicious right?" Claire replied back sarcastically. "Anyway, I have to get ready. Are you going to stay here?"

"Yup. My brother is at home, probably plotting against me. I much prefer to stay here. The view is so much better" Damon replied before winking at her.

Claire rolled her eyes and smiled at the same time, basically her typical reaction to Damon's flirty comments.

"Whatever." She looked around herself for a second before spotting the book she was looking for. "Here" She said with a smirk while throwing 'New Moon' at him. "Entertain yourself. I'll be in the bathroom."

"What is this crap?" Damon asked, looking at the book in his hands like it was radioactive.

"What? It's a book about vampires, I thought you might like it." She answered with a mocking grin.

"Vampires that sparkles." Damon said with a note of disgust in his voice. "I miss Anne Rice. She was so on it."

"Well, they're pretty." Claire answered while shrugging her shoulders, like that was enough reason for her to appreciate the book. With that said, she finally entered the bathroom.

After a long shower she finally got to wear the blue dress she actually wanted to wear since the first moment she had seen it on the wardrobe. It was a blue, satin, strapless dress with lines of encrusted jewels starting from the waist to her right hip, almost forming a fan, that reached her mid-thigh. Unfortunately she wasn't able to close the zip entirely, only till mid-back. She needed to ask Damon for help.

As soon as she got out of the bathroom, she noticed Damon actually reading the book she had given him.

"What's so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped." Damon asked her without looking away from the book, obviously having heard the bathroom door being opened.

"Everybody is whipped when they're in love." She answered with a shrug. Damon raised his gaze from the book at that, widening his eyes when he saw what she was wearing. Claire suppressed a grin of satisfaction at seeing his reaction and continued answering his question. "And Bella loves Edward for exactly what he is. She accepts him, monster and all, because she knows that he's a much better man that even he thinks he is. She believes in him." Damon looked at her intently at those words, even going so far as tilting his head to one side to study her. Claire - suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze - broke the silence with the reason she had gotten out of the bathroom in the first place. "Would you mind helping me with the zip, I can't make it go further up than this." Damon seemed to snap out of his contemplations at that and got up. Claire turned around, standing in front of the big mirror, Damon's reflection appearing a moment later on its surface. She felt the skin of his hand on her naked back and couldn't suppress a shiver. She closed her eyes for a second, to savor the sensation of having him this close. She knew that nothing could ever happen between her and Damon, not because she didn't want to but because she knew it wouldn't have the same meaning for him as it would have for her. Damon was destined to fall in love with Elena and she didn't think there was anything she could do to change that. She was simply trying to be his friend, nothing more, because she knew Damon needed that more than anything else right now.

She opened her eyes again and met Damon's through the mirror. Damon was looking at her, not with the smirk she was expecting he was sporting but with the same intense gaze as before.

Claire wanted to break the silence so she asked the first thing that came to her mind. "Aren't you supposed to get ready too?" Her voice was a little breathless but she tried to ignore it.

Damon looked at her for a second more before smiling at her. "Yep. You're right. I should go. I'll be back in an hour to come pick you up, okay?"

"Sure." Claire smiled back at him, trying not to think about what had just happened. Falling in love with Damon Salvatore was so not a good idea. It would bring her only heartbreak in the end.

* * *

Bonnie and Elena were in Elena's room, the both of them getting ready for the founders party of that evening.

"Delicate flower vs. Naughty vixen." Bonnie said, showing her two different nail polish colors.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena said with a smile. Bonnie looked at her, surprised by her cheerfulness. It had been such a long time since she had seen her smiling.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-Ish."

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "I am...ish. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door." Elena sent her a pointed look and Bonnie sighed, Claire's words running around in her head on a loop.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night." She tried to stall but Elena wasn't hearing it.

"Bonnie, out with it."

"Ok, but it has to go in the vault, because Claire will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

Elena immediately looked skeptical at that. "Uh-Huh."

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie asked to introduce the topic.

Elena looked a little confused at the question but answered anyway. "I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"Yeah, they both dated her, but apparently Damon had started dating her first. He was completely in love with her. But Katherine was selfish and decided that she wanted both of them so she turned her attentions towards Stefan. Stefan knew that Katherine and Damon were together but he didn't care. Since he wanted her for himself, he simply let himself be seduced, not caring that Damon was in love with her. But the fact is that Stefan never really loved Katherine, that he wanted her but that he didn't love her, not like Damon did anyway. And that is proved by the fact that a little after Katherine's death, Stefan had already moved on with his life, not really caring that Katherine was dead, while Damon still mourns her and loves her still. It's the reason why Damon is always goading Stefan about Katherine, because Damon can't accept the fact that Stefan can go on like nothing ever happened."

Elena looked upset at what she had just heard but not exactly convinced. "That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie said, a little apologetically but not really. Elena needed to know.

Elena shook her head, like to drive away negative thoughts and said "Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business."

"Unless he's a selfish liar that only cares about himself. That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things." Elena replied but she didn't sound completely convinced of her own words.

"Yeah? How do you know?"

* * *

Damon entered into his brother's room, searching for a shirt to wear at the Founders' party. Then he remembered that he needed a tie too, probably. "Do they still wear ties at this thing?" He asked Stefan, while searching for a blue one, to match Claire's dress.

"Why are you even going?" His brother asked him, pouring himself a drink.

Damon smirked while looking at his reflection in the mirror. "It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember?"

"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves." Damon tried really hard not to roll his eyes at Stefan's preaching. Instead he smirked and said "So you should stay here. I'll see to it Elena has a good time." He said, just to rile Stefan up. Then looking at Stefan drinking a large gulp of the bourbon inside the glass he had in hand Damon added "My goodness, I've driven you to drink."

"Can't seem to rid myself of you." Stefan answered, in an almost careless tone. "What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?"

"Go about living my life. " Damon repeated with a shake of his head. "See, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead, dude. Get over it." Then he turned around with a dark blue tie resting against his chest "What do you think?"

Stefan didn't answer. Damon ignored his silence and picked a grey shirt from Stefan's wardrobe. He looked once again at his reflection, satisfied at his appearance. "It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud."

Stefan almost snorted at that "Yes, being a 150-Year-Old teenager has been the height of my happiness."

Damon turned around to look at Stefan surprised. "You cracked a funny, Stefan. And thinking that Claire actually finds you boring." He said with a smirk. "I should have a drink to celebrate." He added then, walking towards Stefan's desk where a bottle of bourbon seemed to be waiting just for him.

"How long are you going to keep using Claire like this?" Stefan asked him, judgment evident in his tone.

Damon almost smirked at the question. If only Stefan knew that Claire was basically his partner in crime. "For how long as I see fit, Stefan. Claire's company is far from unpleasant. Why should I renounce to have fun with her?" He turned around back again and was about to pour himself a drink when he noticed Katherine's photo on Stefan's desk. "1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple." He said with fake fondness "It was hell watching you dance with her."

"My happiness was short-lived, as you well know." Stefan answered like he was the only one who had lost her.

"I remember. I left the party early, I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. You were such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was..." He didn't finish his sentence, instead raising the glass in the air in a toast. "Oh, well. Here's to history repeating itself, huh?" He was about to drink when he smelled the vervain in the glass and poured the spiked bourbon on the floor. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry now. Who knows what I'll do?" Then with a look at his watch, he said "Oh, look at the time. I have to go pick Claire up. See you at the party." He said, turning around and leaving the room.

* * *

Damon parked in front of Claire's home and went to knock on the door. Claire opened a few minutes later, and Damon was once again greeted with the image of her encased in a skin-tight mini-dress and her bare legs going on for miles. "Don't you look particularly hot today?" He asked rhetorically with a smirk.

Claire, like he was expecting, just rolled her eyes at him before answering. "Hum, you don't look bad yourself. It's a shame you're such an asshole." She answered with a smirk of her own.

Damon was once again surprised at the fact that Claire seemed perfectly comfortable in his presence, even knowing exactly what he was and what he could do to her if he wanted. Not that she had given him any reason to hurt her. He had no reason to want her dead, actually he was starting to trust her, strange as it seemed. It was almost like they were...friends. Damon wasn't used to having friends of course but he thought that that was the kind of relationship the two of them had.

"Ready to go?" He asked her, trying to dispel those thoughts from his mind.

"Yep. Let's go." Claire retrieved her handbag from the table near the entrance hall and together they climbed in the car directed towards the Lockwood Mansion.

Claire stood in front of the entrance, Damon near her with an hand against her back. Mrs Lockwood immediately greeted her and Claire waited patiently for her to invite them inside. "Claire! You look absolutely beautiful." Mrs Lockwood said and Clare smiled at her before introducing Damon to her.

"Thank you, Mrs Lockwood. This is my date Damon Salvatore."

Mrs Lockwood looked at Damon with interest plain in her eyes and Claire suppressed a grin. "Oh, well, come on in."

Damon smirked once he realized the barrier that kept him out was down. "Lovely to meet you." He said once inside towards Mrs Lockwood, putting on the charm. "I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while."

Claire smirked at the double meaning in Damon's words. Mrs Lockwood, that had no idea the real reason why Damon had been waiting for the party, looked pleased at his words. "Well, enjoy."

Damon looked towards Claire at that. "Let's get a drink."

"Champagne maybe?" She asked a little mischievously.

"Oh, look at that. It seems I'm corrupting you." Damon said with a smirk.

"Oh please, I don't need you to be corrupted, I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own...you haven't seen my wild side yet..." She whispered conspiratorially.

"Oh, I can't wait to see it then." Damon whispered back. Claire smiled at him before noting Liz Forbes looking at her and Damon disapprovingly. "Wait here." She said before going talking to her.

"Wearing your uniform at this party too? Don't you think it's just a bit much?" She asked, maybe a little scathingly.

"I'm working, honey." Liz answered back. "Who's the date you just tried to sneak past me?"

"Just a friend." Claire said with a nonchalant shrug.

"He's a little old for you, don't you think?" Liz said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh sure, because otherwise you'd approve." She answered with a teasing smirk. Claire turned around when she noticed Stefan and Elena arriving at the party but was brought back to attention once again by Liz' question directed towards her.

"Where's your dad?" Claire panicked a little at the question because she had no idea, before strangely remembering the answer. "Memphis."

"Good." Liz said with a nod but Claire continued "With Steven." Liz's face fell at that and Claire felt pity for her.

She noticed Elena and Stefan leaving the entrance hall and going in the exposition room where all the founders family's artifacts were placed to be exposed to the public. Claire left Liz's side and reached Damon's. Together they followed Elena and Stefan into the room and noticed Elena reading the registry with the name of the first founding families' members.

"'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration' Wow, look, it's the original guest registry." Elena was saying to Stefan. "Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" She asked bewildered.

"The original Salvatore brothers." Damon interjected smoothly, coming closer to Elena. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan immediately said to stop Damon from adding anything more.

Elena turned towards Stefan with a smile. "It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well, I'm bored." Claire said with a teasing grin. "I would really love to dance. But someone here" And with that she turned towards Damon with a wink. "won't dance with me." Damon looked surprised at her words since he hadn't refused to dance with her nor had he had the time to ask her. Claire looked at Damon and tried to convene with her eyes the message to trust her. Damon nodded slightly with a shrug before turning towards Stefan and Elena with a fake sheepish look.

"Can I borrow your date Elena?" Claire asked with a smirk. "After all, you were the one who said that I needed to get to know Stefan better. What perfect occasion that this one right?" "Oh, uh..." Elena seemed incapable to find words, surprised by Claire's strange request.

"I don't really dance." Stefan said reluctantly.

"Oh, sure he does." Damon contradicted Stefan with a smirk. "You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Claire asked with puppy dog eyes.

Elena appeared reluctant, then resigned. She turned towards Stefan. "It's up to Stefan."

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." She said, taking Stefan's arm in hers almost dragging him out of the room. Claire grimaced at the idea of dancing with Stefan and thought that Damon definitely owned her a favor for having given him the possibility of talking with Elena alone.

* * *

Damon watched his brother leaving the room with Claire and almost shook his head in bewilderment. How did she know that he wanted to talk with Elena? But of course...she had visions, that was how she knew. Spending time with Claire was almost like walking around with a seer. Except that the idea of her and Stefan spending time together didn't sit too well with him. And the reason, even if he was loathe to admit it, was that he was afraid Stefan would be able to turn her against him. He was starting to trust Claire, he almost considered her a friend, he didn't want to end up betrayed by someone he trusted once again. Especially not because of his brother. He wouldn't allow it.

He tried to dispel those thoughts from his head and turned his attention towards Elena. "I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm... acting out, trying to punish Stefan." He said, surprising even himself with his almost-honesty.

"For what?" Elena asked, her curiosity plain on her face.

Damon sighed "It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." And with that he made his way towards the miniature model of the church where in 1846 the vampires were supposed to burn if Emily Bennet hadn't saved them by entrapping them in a tomb underneath it.

* * *

"Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?" Stefan asked her with certainty in his voice while they two of them kept spinning around the ballroom. Claire smirked without being noticed before looking at him with an expression of fake-confusion on her face. "Now why would he do that?"

They stopped dancing for a few seconds when one of the waiters passed near them, tray in hand.

"Would you like one?" Stefan asked her, offering a glass of champagne to her and taking one for himself.

"Thank you." Claire smiled sweetly at him before taking a sip from her glass, all the while looking around for Liz in the crowd. Better for Liz not to see her drinking, she was still underage after all. She didn't notice the strange aftertaste of the champagne, she just chalked it up as being a cheap brand.

* * *

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here..." Damon continued explaining but Elena interrupted him. "The battle of Willow Creek"

"Right" Damon looked at her a little strangely. He didn't think Elena was the 'studious' type.

Elena smiled at him a little sheepishly, probably realizing what he was thinking. "We talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

Damon smirked at that. "What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive." He stopped for a second, his gaze becoming blank in recollection. "Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

Elena looked both saddened and intrigued by the story. "Who was in the church that they wanted to save?"

"A woman" Damon immediately answered before adding "I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He noticed Elena looking at him intensely for a few seconds and mentally smirked, certain he had impressed her.

Elena seemed to snap out of her daze and said "Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just... I hope you two can work it out."

Damon almost shook his head at her naiveté bur merely replied with "I hope so, too"

They decided to join Stefan and Claire again, since both of them were a little uneasy at the idea of those two spending time with each other. Damon didn't really think Claire would start to suddenly like Stefan since it was pretty obvious that she was wholly unimpressed by him, but better be safe than sorry and all that. And Elena would never admit it aloud but her and Claire had been rivals when it came to boys since they had started puberty, maybe even before that and she certainly wasn't oblivious to the fact that Claire was very desired by the male sex, she didn't want to risk her boyfriend falling prey of Claire's charm like some many before him had done, even if it would be unintentionally done on Claire's part since Elena knew very well that Claire  _did not_  like Stefan in that sense or at all, actually.

"What'd we miss?" Damon asked, reaching Claire's side and putting his arm around her waist almost possessively. Claire looked at him surprised at his gesture but she didn't comment.

"We were just chatting." Stefan answered for the both of them. "Drink, Damon?" He offered his brother and Claire noticed a strange look passing through Damon's eyes before he put an easy smile on his face "No, thanks, I'll pass."

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asked with a flirtatious smile.

Stefan smiled back at her. "Absolutely." He took Elena's hand in his and brought her to the dance floor.

Damon looked at the two of them dancing for a few seconds before turning his attention towards her. "So, did you have fun dancing with Stefan?"

Claire grimaced at that. "Fun? It was like dancing with a tree. Actually a tree moves more." Damon smirked, satisfied at her response.

"Well, let me remedy that." Claire looked at him surprised. "Come on, dance with me." Claire smiled at him before accepting his hand. Claire felt Damon's hands on her waist and shivered just a little. Then noticed Damon spying on Elena and Stefan's conversation and hit him lightly on his arm.

"Now I understand the sudden desire to dance with me." She whispered in his ear.

Damon winked at her before answering, whispering back. "Nothing says I can't have fun dancing with you and spy on my little brother at the same time." Claire rolled her eyes but smiled at him, amused.

* * *

"I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy." Stefan interrupted the silence, after a few minutes of dancing in each other's arms.

Elena smiled at him "No, actually, he was on good behavior. He even apologized and explained why he is the way he is. And it all goes back to Katherine."

"Hmm." Stefan merely said in reply, a little worried by Elena's expression. It almost seemed like Elena was taking a liking to Damon, god forbid!

"So tell me about her. What happened?" Elena asked, her face curious. Stefan grimaced a little at her question. Katherine was not a topic he wanted to discuss with Elena, or anyone for that matter.

"It's not something I like to talk about."

Elena almost huffed at his reply. "I get that. I do. I just want you to know that you can. I mean, I burden you with all of my drama, and I want you to do the same." She pleaded slightly.

"I know. Thank you."

Elena looked almost irritated at his response. "The truth is, Stefan... I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love it if you would open up to me." Stefan stopped dancing at her words and Elena followed suit. He looked her dead in the eye and said "Damon said something, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Elena."

Elena sighed "This isn't about Damon, it's about me trying to get to know you. Look, you're the mystery guy, and I like that. But with mystery comes secrets, and this thing with Katherine..."

"Let it go." Stefan interrupted her, almost harshly "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, then, say something about yourself. Anything. Otherwise, I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me." Elena tried again.

Stefan glared at her. "Don't you see what Damon has done here? He's trying to get you to turn against me."

Elena glared right back "Well, then I guess it's working." And with that, she walked away, leaving Stefan alone on the dance floor. Damon, that had followed the scene, looked first at Stefan and then at Claire. He knew that he didn't do anything this time to cause trouble between the 'happy couple' but he had a suspicious about who did. Claire looked at him with an eyebrow raised, her expression half-satisfied and half-pained.

* * *

Claire looked at the scene between Stefan and Elena with guilt, because she knew that what had just happened was somehow her fault. She had promised herself not to interfere between them but she had done just that.

She couldn't help it though. She hated the fact that Stefan kept lying to Elena and she especially hated the fact that Stefan was trying to put all the blame on his brother's shoulders. She knew very well that Damon was not a saint, nor was he blameless in all of this, but Stefan was as much at fault as Damon was. Claire remembered some things from the show, enough to know that Stefan was always trying to convince Elena of Damon's evilness.

And he had succeed, because Elena had always believed that Stefan was a better person than Damon. Stefan had always told Elena just enough to paint himself in the best light, for example leaving out completely his past as a ripper and telling Elena that he drank animal blood because he didn't want to hurt anyone, when the truth was that he couldn't control himself if he drank human blood.

Stefan had manipulated Elena from the beginning, and since Damon was too noble to say anything different, Stefan was free to spread his lies to anyone who would listen. Not anymore though, not with her there. If Elena wanted to be with Stefan, Claire wouldn't stop her, but she wanted her friend to have all the facts before deciding to be with him and not finding out things as they happened like what had happened in the show.

Claire could feel Damon's eyes on her, a question in his eyes and looked back at him, saying "Come on, let's get inside." Damon nodded back at her before following her lead. Once having passed the entrance, Claire got up the stairs, Damon following behind her. Once they reached the room where Emily Bennet's crystal was, they stopped and closed the door. Damon started searching for the necklace and Claire kept a close eye on the door, to make sure they would not be disturbed.

"Would you like to tell me what was that scene back there between Stefan and Elena and what that had to do with you, or would you like me to guess?" Damon asked her with a careless tone, almost like he was talking about the weather.

Claire sighed a little before telling Damon what she had told Bonnie about his and Stefan's history with Katherine.

"Why would you do that? I thought you wanted to protect Elena..." Damon didn't seem particularly upset by the fact that she had told someone else his private affairs.

"That's why I did it, because I want to protect Elena. I knew that If I had told Bonnie, she would have told Elena everything about it. I wanted to make sure Elena knows as much as possible about Stefan and since I can't trust Stefan to tell her the truth, or the whole truth at least, not just the parts more convenient to him, I have to do it myself" She noticed that her voice had turned cold and that Damon was looking at her intrigued.

"Ah, here it is, your manipulative side making an appearance once again..." Damon said with a smirk.

"Once again? When I've ever been manipulative?" Claire asked, confused.

"Oh, I don't know...maybe the very first time we talked..." At her surprised face, Damon almost rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I didn't notice? You tried to manipulate me into  _not_  kill you. I let you have your way because I was intrigued. Like I already told you, not everyone has the courage to negotiate with a vampire".

Claire smiled at that. "I should have known"

Damon turned serious then before saying "As much as I am fluttered by your portrait of me, don't delude yourself into thinking that I am so kind of romantic hero, because I'm not. I'm the villain of the story" His tone had turned cold, defensive almost.

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit" Claire replied without batting an eyelash "Not everyone loves the way you do. Actually it's almost unheard of. I mean, you loved Katherine for 150 years, you still love her. If that's not the very definition of devotion, I don't know what is..."

Damon shook his head at her but he didn't reply. Claire looked at him almost sadly, knowing what Damon was thinking in that moment, without him needing to say anything. Damon had spent so much time wearing his 'bad brother' mask that he had ended up believing it was his real self. But Claire knew the truth and she had every intention of convincing him of this too, no matter how long it would take. But now was not the time, they needed to go back to the party before anyone noticed their absence.

* * *

Claire was standing in front of the marble sink in the ground floor bathroom of the Lockwood's mansion, reapplying her makeup when she noticed Elena making her way inside.

"Hey" She said with an awkward smile at her best friend. Elena tried to smile back but her smile looked more like a grimace. "So how are things with Stefan?"

"Great. Just great" She replied with a happy tone that was obviously fake.

"Really? Cause it didn't seem that way from where I was looking..."

Elena sighed before confessing "We had an argument"

"About what?" Claire asked, turning her attention completely towards her.

"About his secretiveness. I mean, I practically know nothing about him and he doesn't seem to want to remedy that" Elena was obviously frustrated because of that.

"Look Elena, I'm sorry. About what I said to Bonnie. I didn't really want to cause trouble between you two. But Bonnie asked and..."

Elena shook her head at her. "It's not your fault. I mean, I don't really believe what Damon told you, not all of it at least. And not because I believe Damon is a liar but because I think it's more Katherine's fault that anything else. I think Katherine put the two of them against each other, and now the both of them think it's the other fault."

Claire sighed at Elena's simplistic way of seeing things. "Katherine was a manipulative bitch...from what I've heard. And I'm sure that part of what happened is her fault. But you can't really believe that everything that has happened between Damon and Stefan is completely her fault. I mean, Katherine didn't certainly force Damon..or Stefan, to be with her. They chose to be with her. Knowing that the other was with her at the same time. I mean, we're not talking about a girl who has been first with one brother and then the other. We're talking about someone who has being with the two of them at the same time...separately of course" She grimaced at the thought of the Salvatore brothers in a threesome with Katherine. "What I'm saying is, they both knew what they were getting themselves into. But the difference is that Damon really loved Katherine and he would have done anything for her, but Stefan? He risked everything for what? I don't understand. He ruined his relationship with his brother for a girl he wasn't even really in love with..."

Elena looked upset at her words but she tried to defend Stefan anyway "What makes you say that he didn't really love her?"

"There are things I cannot tell you. But trust me when I say that what Stefan felt for Katherine was not love"

* * *

Elena couldn't stop thinking about what Claire had told her. Part of her wanted to dismiss what she had heard but the other part couldn't help but believe it.

"Hey" Elena was brought back to the present by Stefan's voice.

"Hey" Elena replied back with an awkward smile.

"Listen, I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to snap at you. But you have to believe me when I said that Damon would like nothing more than to separate us"

"Why are you talking about Damon again? Damon has nothing to do with this. This is about us. About you not opening up to me" Elena almost ended up shouting the last words, her frustration apparent.  
Stefan looked pained at this "Elena, please. I... I don't expect you to understand"

Elena raised her arms in a sign of surrender "I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, ok? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me"

Elena looked at him, disappointed, hurt and angry at the same time "Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over".

* * *

Claire cursed silently while looking at her bleeding arm. She had never been clumsy, she was a cheerleader for god's sake, so why this had happened to her?

"Claire? Are you okay? Why do I smell blood?" Damon appeared behind her and Claire almost screamed at his sudden appearance. She turned around to look at him.

"Yeah, I just...I tripped and scratched my arm over a rock. It's these stupid high heels. Nothing to worry about"

She noticed Damon's face started to change while looking at the blood spilling from her arm and she looked around herself to make sure nobody was nearby. "Are you hungry Damon? When was the last time you ate?"

"I had a blood bag before coming to the party..." Damon replied absentmindedly, his attention still riveted to her arm.

Claire sighed before offering her bleeding arm to him. Damon looked at her surprised before accepting her offer. She felt his fangs piercing her skin and suppressed a winch. A few seconds later the pain disappeared when he started sucking her blood with his lips. She didn't even have the time to enjoy the experience that Damon was crushing on the floor, moaning in pain.

"Damon?" Claire asked, scared and having no idea what was happening. "Oh my God! Damon? Are you okay? What just happened?" She asked him, kneeling at his side.

"Vervain" Damon whispered, his voice pained.

"What? How's possible? I haven't drunk any vervain..."

"You know, I couldn't spike your drink... So I spiked hers" Stefan said, appearing from the shadows, his voice smug.

Claire felt enraged at that. She got up in a swift move and use all her weight to crush against Stefan's chest in a way to hurt him but to no avail. She started punching his chest with all her strength but it was like throwing punches against a wall, painful and pointless. Stefan had frozen for a few seconds in surprise at her attack but now he was trying to get her off himself. He captured her arms in his hands and pushed her away with strength. Claire knocked the back of her head against the hard ground and started to feel lightheaded.

She heard Damon saying her name and touching her forehead with one hand but she couldn't focus.

"What the hell Stefan? You are willing to hurt Claire just to get rid of me?" Damon said, his voice was still weak because of the vervain but his rage was palpable.

"I didn't want to hurt her. I just meant to get her off me" Stefan sounded guilty but Claire noticed that he hadn't actually apologized.

She felt her eyelids grew heavy and a few seconds later she finally succumbed to darkness.

* * *

Claire woke up at Elena's voice calling her name. She rubbed her head with one hand, trying to soothe the pain. She had a splitting headache, thanks to Stefan and since Damon was nowhere to be seen, Stefan was probably responsible for Damon's disappearance too.  
"Claire? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. " Elena said, appearing from behind her. When she noticed her still on the floor, she asked concerned "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine" Claire said automatically but she was definitely not fine, she was worried for Damon, she knew exactly what Stefan had in mind for his brother.

"Claire, what happened?" Elena asked again. this time more forcefully.

"I'm fine" Claire answered once again.

"No, you're not fine. You're shaking. Claire—What—"

"I'm fine!" Claire finally shouted back at her before she suddenly burst into crying.

"Claire, come here, come here." Elena said soothingly, hugging her. Claire let herself be hugged but she didn't feel particularly reassured. If only she had remembered before what was going to happen, she could have stopped it. It was all her fault.

* * *

Stefan looked at Damon inside the cell he had just locked him into and nodded to himself. He was sorry that it had come to this, but it was the only way to stop Damon from hurting anyone else and to protect Elena.

" _I did what I had to do_..." He started writing in his diary " _To protect Elena, to protect everyone. Yes, Damon, the headline reads 'Deadly beast captured. All is well in Mystic Falls'_ ".

* * *

Bonnie wondered where Elena and Claire were. She hadn't seen them inside so now she was trying to find them outside the mansion. While walking through the enormous garden of the Lockwood Mansion, she noticed something shining on the grass. She came closer to investigate and realized that it was an amber necklace that somehow called to her. It was almost like she felt it belonged to her. Of course that was absurd but she couldn't help herself from reaching for it.


	6. Chapter 5 - Rescue Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long, long, long wait, I really have no excuses for that. I can only promise that this story is definitely not abandoned, not matter how long I take, I'll always update it. And I'm sorry if this chapter is much shorter than the previous ones but I only wrote the scenes that differed from the TV Show, the other scenes are the same as the episode so I didn't see the point in writing them. And anyway, the focus of this story is Damon and Claire so who cares about Stefan and Elena, right? Hope you like it, anyway. Tell me what you think!

** **

**Chapter 5**

**RESCUE ME  
**

_"This waking nightmare lingers_

_when will the mirror stop telling lies_

_I don't know where i've been_

_or where i'm going_

_But I can't do it alone"_

_(Rescue Me - Kerrie Roberts)_

Damon could barely keep his eyes open to look at his brother through the bars of the cell Stefan had locked him in. He tried to glare at him anyway, trying to convene all the anger he could feel towards Stefan for what he had done to him. Worst thing of all, Stefan had taken his daylight ring too.

"Where's my ring?" He was barely able to utter, his throat burning.  
"Won't be needing it anymore." Stefan almost taunted him.

Damon cursed himself once again for having lowered his guard that night at the Founders' party, enough to allow his brother to capture him after having spiked Claire's glass of champagne with vervain. How could he have not noticed that her blood had vervain in it? But he had been so hungry in that moment and Claire's blood had looked so tempting offered like that, and he had known perfectly how delicious it tasted, that he hadn't realized what had happened until it was too late.

"How long have I been here?" Damon asked then, not sure how much time had passed since the night at the party.

"Three days" Stefan answered emotionless.

Three days, it sure seemed longer. He wondered how to get the hell out of there and who could help him with that. Immediately after, he thought about Claire and wondered where she was; if his brother had compelled her to forget about what had happened to him; or if she was worrying about him, not knowing where he was and if he was okay. Maybe he was kidding himself; maybe Claire was relieved that he was no longer around, being a threat to her, her friends and family. Then he remembered her reaction towards Stefan, her anger at what his brother had done to him, her fear, for him, and realized that if there was one person who wondered about his disappearance, then that person was Claire.

"What are you doing?" He asked his brother, wanting to know what Stefan's plan was.

Stefan looked at him with a gaze that was half pity and half determination and answered, "During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them."

Damon almost asked him what right did he have to cast judgment upon him but thought better of it and instead said "You know what will happen if I don't... Feed on blood".

Stefan nodded at him indifferently "You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever."

Damon felt dread coursing through his weak body but his voice was firm – though scratchy – when he asked "So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?"

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak." Now Stefan's voice was filled with satisfaction, almost proud of his accomplishment "Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate."

Damon glared at him, not ready to give up "I'm stronger than you think."

Stefan nodded at him, almost mockingly "You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way." With that said, Stefan walked away and Damon watched him go without saying anything further. He didn't care what Stefan thought, Damon would find a way to get out of this cell and then Stefan would pay.

* * *

Claire sat in front of the mirror, brushing absentmindedly her hair while her thoughts were once again occupied by Damon, wondering how to get him out of the prison his brother had created for him and without Stefan getting in the way of her rescue mission. After all, she couldn't compete with vampire strength. If Stefan tried to stop her, she wouldn't have a chance. And yet, she couldn't allow Damon to rot in that cell. She needed to save him. She just had to figure out how.

"Have you heard from Damon lately?" Bonnie asked her out of the blue, while lying on her bed, her gaze fixed on the white candle she was holding.

"No, I haven't seen him since the founders' party" Claire replied without turning around.

"It's weird, isn't it? I haven't seen him around town lately either. Where do you think he went?" Bonnie wondered curiously.

"I don't know" Claire answered uneasy, especially because lying was becoming easier and easier every day, though she hated lying to her best friends. "Maybe he left town for a few days"

"Without telling you?" Bonnie asked skeptically.

"I'm not his keeper Bonnie. Not am I his girlfriend. He can do whatever he wants without asking for my permission"

"I guess" Bonnie shrugged.

"Are you having any luck with that candle yet?" Claire asked in the end, just to change the subject "Try not to set my room on fire okay? I don't know how I'll be able to survive without my designer clothes…"

Bonnie rolled her eyes at her "I don't think you need to worry about that, nothing strange happened since the party…"

"Talking about the party. Have you, by chance, found a necklace with a yellow stone? It's Damon's. He had given it to me for safekeeping but I lost it and I don't want to have to tell him that, he wouldn't be pleased…" Claire asked her, knowing very well that Bonnie had it but knowing that she wouldn't probably admit it. Claire really wanted to give Damon his necklace back but if Bonnie had it, how was Claire supposed to convince her to give it to her?

"I…" Bonnie startled visibly but then shook her head in pretended nonchalance "No, sorry. I haven't found any necklace"

"Too bad" Claire replied with a suspicious look her way. How was she supposed to tell Damon that the only thing keeping him from freeing Katherine from the tomb was now in Bonnie's hands without that resulting in her best friend's death?

* * *

"So, the sexy suds car wash is tomorrow." Claire said, her perkiest smile firmly in place. She was walking through her school hallway, two schoolmates of hers at each side while handing out pamphlets to the school population at large. "The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake." She laughed for good measure, feeling Elena and Stefan's gazes, watching her every move. Stefan needed to think that she had 'forgot' about what had happened at the party, that she had been so heavily compelled that her reaction that night had only been a consequence of that.

After giving some other directions to her 'helpers', she made her way towards Stefan and Elena.

"Elena and Stefan, just the guys I wanted to see!" She said with an impudent smirk "I hope you are well aware of the fact that if you don't participate in the car wash fundraiser, I will never speak with the both of you again. Especially you Elena, my dear best friend…" She batted her eyelashes playfully at Elena and Elena laughed with a slight roll of her eyes.

"If I have to…" Elena replied reluctantly then.

"Well, of course you have to. You're hot, I'm sure you'll help raise a lot of money" Then with a look towards Stefan she added, almost reluctantly "Well, you too I guess Stefan. Though you're not as hot as Damon, obviously…"

"Claire!" Elena cried in reproach.

Claire shrugged her shoulders indifferently "What? I have eyes Elena. Damon is sex on legs, even you can't deny that…"

Elena blushed slightly but didn't reply. Claire smirked in satisfaction, especially at Stefan's broody face.

"Speaking about Damon. Where is he?" She asked Stefan then, knowing perfectly well that if she hadn't, Stefan would have found it suspicious.

"He's gone, Claire." Stefan answered expressionless.

Claire didn't stop smiling, appearing almost uncaring of the answer "When is he coming back then?"

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry." Stefan said before turning around and walking away without another word.

"Your boyfriend is such a killjoy." Claire said to Elena with a roll of her eyes. The bell rang soon after and the two of them were forced to separate and go to their respective classes.

Claire knew that that was it; her opportunity to save Damon. She would take advantage of the fact that Stefan would be busy with the fundraiser to reach the Salvatore Boarding House and free Damon from that damn cell. She had one chance only and she had no intention of wasting it.

* * *

Since her plan to free Damon would have to wait until tomorrow, she had decided to spend the night at the Grill, maybe hoping Matt would be working that day and wouldn't be adverse to keep her company. After all, why not? He was cute and sweet and those amazing baby blue eyes of his could really make a girl melt.

Only problem? He was still totally hanged up on Elena and she wasn't really in the mood to be second choice material.

And there he was, like to confirm her suspicions, spending time with…Elena, who else? They were at the pool table, just talking, but the smile that she had on her face suddenly slipped.

Matt and Elena turned right in that moment and waved at her. She waved back but didn't come any closer to them, deciding to sit at a table and order something to eat. She was in a mood for burger and fries, and a strawberry smoothie too. She felt especially daring that day.

A few minutes later, while she was sipping on her smoothie, she noticed Stefan entered the bar and making his way towards Elena. She observed Matt appearing suddenly awkward but not particularly upset before saying a few words to Stefan and Elena and then making his way towards her.

Claire pretended indifference when he came to stand near her table, munching on her fries.

"Hey Claire!" Matt said, passing a hand through his blond hair in a certain sign of agitation.

"Matt, hey. How's going?" Claire replied with the sweetest – not awkward – smile she could muster.

"Good, good. Hum…do you mind if I join you?"

Claire looked at him with a shrug of her shoulders "Sure."

"So, I saw you hanging out a lot with Damon Salvatore lately, you two…?"

"Hum? No, no. We're just friends" Claire said distractedly, looking at the sudden scene that was going on between Stefan and Elena. There was a man, an old man who had seemed to have recognized Stefan and Elena was looking at the both of them alternatively with a look of suspicion. Claire sighed and realized that the moment for Elena to find out the truth about Stefan was finally getting closer.

"Oh" Matt seemed relieved at what he had said and that made Claire turned around to look at him.

"So, how are you?" Claire asked him then. "How's Vicky?"

"I'm fine and Vicky's getting better." Matt said with a shrug of his own.

"Good" Claire said back awkwardly. Then after a pause, unable to remain silent any longer, she exclaimed "Listen Matt, it's fine if the only reason you want to sit here with me is to keep an eye on Elena and Stefan. Really, I'm cool with it, we don't have to feel awkward about it…"

"What?" Matt's blue eyes were suddenly huge in surprise. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious isn't it? You still have feelings for Elena and, though she's seeing another guy now, that doesn't mean you're completely okay with that or that you're ready to get over her…"

Matt huffed in irritation before exclaiming, "It's true that I'm not completely over Elena yet but Stefan seemed like a cool guy and I don't totally hate the idea of him and Elena together. I didn't want to spy on them if that's what you were implying. The only reason I wanted to sit here with you is because I wanted to spend time with you but now I realize this wasn't such a good idea so now I'll go…" and with that Matt stood up and ignoring her protests just walked away from her.

Claire cursed herself and her stupidity, before leaving the table and the Grill altogether, suddenly not feeling very hungry anymore.

* * *

"I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse." Damon almost smirked at Zach's words. Like he wanted to drink his blood…

"So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep." He said in disgust.

Zach glared at him "We're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you."

Damon wondered why he was telling him this. It was not like he cared. Being locked inside a cell to desiccate was one thing, being forced to listen to his great-great-whatever nephew whine was another "I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point."

"You know I can't do that."

Damon almost rolled his eyes "You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either." Best not to think too much about that though. It brought back very bad memories.

"But you don't visit, Damon. You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell, that you're permitting me to live."

Damon wondered to himself why he had not simply killed him – annoying as he was – but then remembered that he had some kind of purpose. Keeping the house habitable while he and Stefan were away but especially stop other vampires from entering the house since they needed to be invited in. "Someone had to mow the lawn." He shrugged then.

"I came to say good-bye, Damon." He said, ignoring Damon's comment. While talking he had come closer to the bars and Damon used the last remnant of his strength to come up to the door and grab Zach by the throat. A movement of his hand and he would snap Zach's neck if he wouldn't comply.

"Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach." He said menacingly. But of course, Stefan had to come in that moment and ruin everything like usual. He wrestled Zach out of Damon's grasp and turned towards him in warning.

"Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go." He didn't spare him another word and Damon found himself alone once again in the cell, scavenging in his brain for a way out of there.

* * *

Claire almost sighed into the phone, one hand occupied in painting her toenail with an electric blue nail vanish. "No, Tiki, do not do the one-piece, ok? I've seen it on you. Trust me. You look much better in a bikini."

She was suddenly distracted by the crow picking at the window glass with its beak. When Tiki's voice came from the phone once again, asking if she was listening to her, she said "What? oh, um, no, sorry. Um, so I'll just see you tomorrow. Two-piece. Ok, bye." She closed the call quickly and went to the window, opening it and letting the crow come inside. He perched on the window seat, and watched her.

"You belong to Damon, don't you?" The crow kept watching her, lowering its head slightly in a nod. "I'm coming for you soon Damon, I promise".

The crow watched her intensely for a few seconds before flying away into the night.

* * *

Damon frowned when he noticed Stefan standing in front of the cell once again. Part of his mind was occupied by what Claire had said to his crow, not really surprised she had known it had been him who had sent it. He was worried that she was going to do something stupid to get him out of his prison and get herself hurt, though he couldn't pretend that he didn't need her help nor that he wasn't a little bit touched that she was intent of freeing him from his cell.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" He asked Stefan in scorn.

Stefan shrugged "Not particularly".

Damon glared at him "You won. You got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena." Then with a smirk he added "Except the truth. The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are."

Stefan looked a little irritated at his words but not to the extent Damon wanted him to be.

"The beauty of you in there and me out here... Is that I can walk away." Stefan said before turning around and doing just that.

* * *

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here." Claire instructed seriously, though most of her thoughts were occupied with the plan of getting Damon out of the cell Stefan had trapped him into.

"No we are not" Elena said with an amused smile before smiling at Stefan who had just arrived. Claire looked at them still wearing their t-shirts and jeans and rolled her eyes "The event is called sexy suds, you know. Showing more skin is the point…" With that said she walked off, hoping that in the excitement of the event, she could sneak out and reach the Salvatore Boarding House without Stefan noticing.

She made her way to the stand that acted as a cash desk and tried not to make it too obvious that she was impatient.

A few minutes later Elena showed up as the answer to her silent prayers. "Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things".

Claire immediately took that as the perfect opportunity to leave without appearing suspicious. "I'll go get some more." She said to Elena with a wide smile then more seriously she ordered "Mind the money". After all the work she had put into organizing the event, she didn't want to lose any money just because she was too busy saving Damon.

She reached her car that she had parked behind the school in preparation for this very moment and made her way towards the Boarding House.

She parked the car in front of the house and hoped Zach Salvatore was out because she wasn't exactly sure how to get rid of him too. The door was open like always so she made her way inside without any trouble. She crossed the hall and went down the stairs immediately towards the basement until she reached the cell she knew Damon was kept in.

"Damon" She said in a whisper, thanking her lucky star that Zach hadn't seen her entering the house. She leaned her head out of the bars to see Damon's face and gasped at how pale and emaciated he looked.

"Claire" Damon said surprised. "You actually came…"

Claire smiled at him "Of course I came. Did you think I'd leave you here to rot? Sorry I took this long but I needed to find a way for Stefan to be out of the way so I organized a car wash to raise money and basically forced Stefan to participate so he would stay busy all day and out of the house."

Damon smirked at her "Did I ever tell you how much I love your more devious side? Because I really do…Now, before you get me out, I want you to promise me that you'll run away as fast as you can as soon you as open the door, go to your car and leave because I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from draining you dry once I get out of here, not after been left starving for days."

Claire nodded at him in promise before starting to slide the latch that kept the door closed.

Unfortunately she was stopped in her movements by Zach Salvatore that came up behind her. "No! What are you doing?" He grabbed her shoulders to try and pry her off the door but she wouldn't budge, still opening the door.

"Let go of me!" She screamed and kicked him until she was finally able to open the door and let Damon out.

Claire started to run immediately without looking back but just as she was about to reach the door, she felt him behind her. Damon didn't lose any time moving her head to the side and biting her neck viciously. She cried out in pain, for a few seconds marveling at the difference with the last time he had feed from her.

She felt herself becoming weaker and weaker with every gulp of blood leaving her body but she had enough force left in her to whisper weakly "Please, Damon, stop!"

It seemed to be enough because she felt Damon's fangs leave her skin slowly and carefully. "I'm so sorry…" he said with remorse.

Claire's vision was blurry but she still could make out his features enough to notice that his face was back to normal. "It's okay" She said with a weak smile "You didn't kill me so I can't really complain. I blame Stefan for that too…" She tried to keep her eyes open but couldn't, feeling exhaustion overtaking her.

"No, no!" She heard Damon said frantically "Don't you dare fall asleep!" But she couldn't stay awake a second longer, feeling herself falling into darkness.


	7. Chapter 6 - Blood, Lust and Truth

****

**Chapter 6**

**BLOOD, LUST AND TRUTH**

_"All I ever wanted_  
_All I ever needed_  
_Is here in my arms_  
_Words are very unnecessary_  
_They can only do harm."_

**(Enjoy the Silence by Anberlin - Depeche Mode Cover)**

Damon watched the bodies burn for a few seconds then he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Stefan answered.

Damon didn't lose any time with pleasantries, instead he simply said, "I want my ring."

"Where are you?" Stefan's frantic voice came from the other line.

Damon smirked but there wasn't humor in his voice this time. "I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring?"

"I don't have it. Where are you? What have you done?" Stefan sounded more and more upset. Damon, on the other hand, was in a cold fury.

"No, what have you done?" Damon replied, his voice like ice. He couldn't stop thinking about Claire, bleeding and pale, cold and completely immobile, because of him, because she came for him, to free him. It was a miracle he was able to stop. It was a miracle she wasn't dead. "You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy."

"You're being careless. How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?"

Damon almost snarled at Stefan's words, getting impatient. "I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where's my ring?"

"I gave it to Zach to hide." Stefan replied calmly. "Probably shouldn't have killed him."

Damon snorted in derision. "Ah… you almost got me." Then in a low voice that belied his rage, he asked again, "Where is it? Stefan, I'm losing my patience."

Stefan sighed, finally relating. "I'll get it back, but I need time."

"What, did you FedEx it to Rome?! Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop's Elena's."

"I already want you dead. Don't give me another reason to make it happen."

Damon clenched his fists at that. "Don't give me another reason to rip you apart. Trust me, I have plenty."

"Yeah? Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?"

"Just get it." He said before hanging up.

He went to pour bourbon all over the girl's – Vicky was it? That blonde jock's sister? – body but just in that moment she woke up.

Damon looked at her curiously. "You just don't wanna die, do you?"

He shrugged, deciding he would bring a snack home after all. It would help him keep his strength and resist the temptation of biting Claire again. He had left her still unconscious in his room after giving her his blood. He just hoped it would be enough for her body to start healing itself and replenish the blood she had lost.

* * *

She could feel something warm that tasted like iron sliding down her throat. She coughed in protest and she heard a voice saying gently "Come on, drink it all…"

She struggled to open her eyes and saw a blurred figure hovering in front of her. She drunk without further protest, though confused about what was going on.

She knew she was lying on a comfortable surface, probably a bed. Sheets covered her, the silk feeling wonderful on her skin. She also noticed she wasn't wearing a shirt but she was in the two-piece she had worn for the car wash.

"Damon?" She asked weakly.

"Hey sleepyhead…" She saw him smile through her blurred vision, his blue eyes attracting her like a beacon. He was sitting next to her, watching her with a concerned face.

"What happened? Why I feel like someone hit my head with a hammer?"

"You got me out of the cell, remember? You tried to run but I was so hungry that I chased you down and bit you…"

"Yes, I remember now…are you giving me your blood?"

"That's right, it'll heal you. Though try not to die okay? Unless you want to become a vampire…I would be more than happy to turn you if you want…"

She frowned "No, thanks. I like being human well enough…"

"Shame, you would make a great vampire. And you would get to stay young and beautiful forever. Isn't that every girl's dream?"

"Not this girl's dream." She mumbled, squinting her eyes at the light in the room, though it was very feeble. She noticed the curtains were drawn, in fact, and realized that Damon still hadn't get his ring back from Stefan. Then she noticed exactly where she was. "Is this your room?"

Damon smirked. "Not exactly how I imagined having you in my bed but I'll take what I can get."

Claire huffed. "Oh yes, I'm sure I look so hot right now."

Damon snorted in amusement at that. "Don't go fish for compliments Claire, you know you don't need to. You must know there's nothing that would make you look less than 100% desirable."

"Wow, maybe I should almost die more often. You are actually being nice. Where's Damon and what have you done with him?"

Damon frowned at her words. "Don't say that."

"What?"

"That you should almost die more often. Don't say that."

Claire shrugged in indifference. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"But you came really close this time. I didn't know if you would actually wake up."

"But I'm awake. You didn't kill me so stop feeling guilty about it, okay?"

"Who says I'm feeling guilty?" Damon asked, immediately defensive. "Maybe I'm simply relieved I don't have a newbie vampire to look after."

"Whatever you wanna call it, Damon. What matters is that I'm fine – or I will be – and that I don't blame you for what happened."

Damon snorted at that, shaking his head. "You're a really strange girl, you know that?"

"Why? Because I don't treat you like a monster?"

Damon raised his voice in irritation. "I _am_ a monster Claire. I'm a vampire. When are you going to get that? This is not a fantasy book, this is real life. And in real life the beautiful blonde girl gets eaten by the big bad vampire, they don't become friends."

Claire looked at him unimpressed. "I know what you're doing and it's not going to work."

"And what am I doing?" He asked her scathingly.

"You're trying to push me away. We became friends Damon, even if you don't want to admit it and you were worried about me, even if you don't want to admit it, and you were feeling guilty, once again even if you don't wanna admit it. So now, you are doing what you do best, pushing people away before they get too close."

Damon got up from the side of the bed he was sitting on and started pacing the room. "Yeah? You think you know me so well? Do you know what I did yesterday night? While you were unconscious and bleeding because of me? I went to the cemetery and killed a bunch of kids there, probably all about your age. And now, one of them, Vicki something? You know your blond friend's sister? She's unconscious downstairs because for whatever reason, after I fed from her repeatedly, she didn't die so I decided to bring her here. You know, as home delivery food, just in case I get hungry again."

Claire sighed. "I know Damon. I already knew."

"And what? You don't care? You don't care that I killed kids that could have been your classmates, even your friends? You're just okay with it?"

"Of course I'm not okay with it!" She screamed at him. "I hate it!" She took a deep breath to calm down. "But I also understand what you are Damon. I know that you need human blood to survive. I know that your own brother left you to starve for days and I can't even imagine the agony of that. I know that you pretend you don't care about the people you kill because it's easier this way. You can't flip your switch back on to stop you from feeling so you just pretend that you don't feel anything, but you do. You feel everything, don't you? You already felt so much when you were human and, as a vampire, it must be unbearable since everything's amplified."

"Stop it! Stop trying to justify my actions! Stop finding excuses for me! Just stop!" Damon screamed at her in the most genuine show of emotions she had ever seen from him.

"What do you want me to do then, hum? Be like your brother and blame everything bad that ever happened to me, to everyone, on you? Treat you like you're evil personified? Ignore all the good there is in you and just see the bad parts because it's easier this way? Well, I won't. I see you Damon. You can't hide yourself from me! I know who you are! I know there's good in you and you can't convince me otherwise."

Damon turned away from her with a glare. "You know nothing! Just because you saw some things about my past, doesn't mean you know me!"

"I know that there's a part of you that enjoys the hunt and the kill and that it all started when you were human, when you were a soldier, and then after, with Katherine, when she killed in front of you. She brought to the surface the darkest part of you and you kind of hate her for that as well. You think you two are made for each other because of the darkness that exists in both of you. I know that part of the reason why you love her is because you know that she wouldn't be horrified by what you've become, because you think she wouldn't turn you away, just like you didn't turn away from her when she showed you what she really was."

Damon looked at her in astonishment. He had no idea she knew so much about him. Sure, he had known that she knew about him and Katherine but he had no idea how deep her knowledge of him went. It was more than a little unsettling, having someone knowing him and his motivations so well. Nobody had ever known him so well, nobody had ever cared to try, not even his own brother. What was even more surprising was that she still didn't run away from him screaming. How can she know so much about him, about what he did, and still be there, talking to him like he wasn't a complete monster?

 _Because she understands_ , a voice in his mind whispered but he ignored it. Claire looked at him in silence, her big blue eyes poised on him in wait. Damon ignored the expectation in her face, knowing that she wanted him to confirm or deny what she had just said but he couldn't, not now, maybe never.

He did the only thing he could in that moment: he deflected. "You must be hungry and thirsty after losing so much blood. Come on, I'll cook you something. I'm an awesome cook, you know."

Claire nodded at him in acceptance and smiled. "Sure, something to eat would be nice."

She got up from the bed slowly until she was standing in front of him with her bikini top and a very short skirt on, nothing else; the t-shirt she had been wearing had been so stained with blood, it was completely ruined, so he had taken it off her and thrown it away.

In that moment he really wished he hadn't. He wasn't joking when he said there was nothing that would make Claire look undesirable. And it had been many months since he had indulged in his other needs. Claire would tempt every warm-blooded male normally but in that moment, to his eyes, she had the same effect of a 5-courses-meal in front of a starving man.

Normally he had no problems getting what he wanted from women, be it blood or sex, partly thanks to his natural good looks and partly because of compulsion, but it was different with her. He was sure he could seduce her if he really tried but he didn't want her to regret it after and ruin what they had – this friendship or whatever there was between them. He knew that she could have slept with him if she had wanted to, it wasn't like he had kept his physical desire towards her a secret, but he knew enough about her that she wasn't one to sleep casually with someone, especially if she considered that someone a friend.

Damon took a deep breath, took his fill of all that naked skin exposed to his gaze and then turned away. He took one of his black t-shirts from his drawer and threw it to her. "Here, wear this!"

Claire looked at the t-shirt surprised then thanked him and put it on. Damon almost groaned aloud at that.

"What?" Claire asked him confused, noticing his look.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, making you wear my t-shirt."

"Why?"

Damon shook his head at her obliviousness. "Because all I can think about right now is to fuck you on the nearest surface." He said, not mincing his words.

"Oh." Claire looked at him surprised – and maybe a little aroused –. "Please don't. I don't want my first time to be the result of incontrollable lust." She regretted her words as soon as she pronounced them but she couldn't take them back.

"Your first time?" Damon asked her, completely taken aback. "How is it possible? I mean you're….you."

Claire rolled her eyes. "It's not like I didn't have plenty of opportunities. Teenage boys are like puppies chasing bones when it comes to blonde cheerleaders."

"Yeah, I can imagine that." Damon smirked. _Especially if said cheerleaders looked like she did._ Damon had seen many beautiful women during the century and a half he had been alive but he could say with certainty that she was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. She was even more beautiful than Katherine and Elena. "But then, why?"

Claire shrugged. "I just…I want it to matter, you know? I want it to mean something. I want to…" She laughed a little at her stupidity but she continued. "I want to be in love with the person I'll have sex with. Is that so wrong? Or naïve, stupid?"

"No, it's not." He said with a smile. Would this girl ever stop surprise him? Then, to lighten the mood, he added. "You know, I could teach you the fine art of lovemaking, this way you wouldn't be completely unprepared once you do decide to have sex for the first time. There are so many things we could do without going all the way."

Claire laughed. "Thank you for the offer, but I do know what to do. I'm not completely inexperienced, you know?"

Damon pouted in disappointment. "Damn! At least I tried."

"Come on Casanova, let's go downstairs. I'm starving." She laughed before skipping out of the room. Damon followed her but stopped when she did, looking at the form still passed out on the sofa.

Claire sighed with a sad look on her face. "Poor Vicki." Then she turned towards him with a hard look in her face. "I want you to promise me something, and this time I want you to keep this promise."

"What is it?" Damon asked her wearily.

"Promise me you won't turn her or kill her. Promise me you'll let her go after today, alive and well. That you'll give her your blood and then send her home to her brother. Vicki is all the family Matt has – her mother doesn't really count since she's never around –. Please, don't take her away from him."

"You seem to care a lot about this Matt." His voice was deceptively casual but he felt a twinge of jealousy at the idea of her caring for this human boy.

"He's my friend." Claire simply replied. "So, will you promise?"

Damon sighed. "I promise."

Claire nodded at him with a smile. "Good." Then she turned to look at Vicki once again. "When is she going to wake up, do you think?"

"Not for a little while I imagine. I almost drained her dry."

Claire nodded again before saying, "Well, weren't you suppose to cook me something to eat? What are you waiting for?"

After a late breakfast that consisted of orange juice, pancakes, fried eggs, bacon and sausages, they returned to the living room where Damon once again called Stefan to have his ring back.

"Where are you, Stefan?" Damon left Stefan a message since he wasn't answering. "I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring." He noticed Vicki bleeding on the sofa and blinking her eyes, obviously regaining consciousness. "Damn it, don't get blood on the couch!"

Vicki looked at him and then at Claire, confused. She didn't seem to understand what he just said. Damon walked over with a sigh.

"Please?" He pleaded before checking her wound. "I got you good, didn't I?" Vicki didn't answer. Damon sighed again and with a roll of his eyes he said, "Well, you're not gonna be any fun today." He bit into his wrist and offered his blood to her. "I'm so gonna regret this." Claire smiled at him and Damon tried to ignore how pleased it made him feel.

Vicki struggled a little at the taste but eventually she gave in without further protest. "Drink up. Drink it up. Don't drip. There you go. Good girl. That's it."

Color returned to Vicki's cheeks immediately and she looked much better.

"Now what?" Claire asked.

Damon smirked at her. "Since I'm stuck here until my brother gives me my ring back I say we have some fun."

Half an hour later the three of them were dancing in their underwear all over the Boarding House living room, music coming from the sound system loud like in a dance club. Claire laughed when Damon spun her to his chest, their skin coming in close contact with each other. After lowering her almost to the ground, he caught her again before letting her go and dancing with Vicki.

"Oh, man. That shower was so great." Vicki said to him. "What did you give me?"

"Some blood. You loved it." Damon compelled her.

"I did? Wait. I'm confused. How did we get here?"

"We met in the woods." Damon replied with nonchalance. "You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and brought you here, gave you some blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down." He kept compelling her. Claire felt a little uncomfortable watching the whole scene but she trusted that Damon would let her go at the end of the day so she didn't say anything.

"Ok. Um, but first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good."

Damon smirked at her. "Only if I can." Damon bit his wrist yet again and gave Vicki his blood while drinking from her wrist. It looked so sexual and intimate that she couldn't help but feel jealous, even if she knew that Damon cared nothing for Vicki.

Damon raised his head from Vicki's wrist once he had his fill and smirked at her look. "Don't need to be jealous Sunshine, we can share blood as many times as you want. Your blood is absolutely delicious. Even now if you're up for it."

Claire raised an eyebrow at him. "No thanks, I lost enough as it is today."

Damon sobered for an instant at that reminder then he smirked again, "Another time then."

Vicki turned to look at her then. "Claire Forbes, what are you doing here? Are you friends with this guy?" She looked surprised at her presence there but especially at the fact that she could be friends with someone like Damon Salvatore. "Hum, who knew you take off that stick up your ass once in a while?"

"Excuse me?" Claire asked, incensed. "Just because I don't get drunk and high every day of the week, doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun."

Vicki shrugged, though not in apology. "Hum. You know, I've always thought you were a bitch. Miss Blonde Perfect. Perfect looks. Perfect grades. Perfect family – well, at least until your father ditched your mother for another man, of course. I guess you're not so bad after all."

Claire smiled at her and with a saccharine sweet voice she replied, "Thank you Vicki. I always thought you were a pathetic druggie with no self-esteem but I guess you are…" She pretended to think about it but then she amended, "no, wait, you're exactly like that."

Vicki glared at her. "Guess you _are_ a bitch!"

Claire smiled even wider. "And proud to be. They don't call me Queen Bee for nothing. I can be as sweet as honey, but if you bother me, or my friends – or you know, my best friend's brother – my sting will hurt like hell."

"Jeremy. Yeah, I know, I treated him like crap." She admitted with a guilty look. Vicki spun around the room and kept talking. "And he's so sweet, he didn't deserve that. It's just…well, there was Tyler, you know? But I am so over him now, so over him. I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But no. Now, Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that."

"Jeremy, huh? Elena's brother?" Damon asked, vaguely interested.

"Yeah, yeah." Vicki replied distractedly. "So, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and...Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and so hot."

"I know." Damon replied with a straight face. Claire giggled at that.

"Don't you wanna be in love?"

"I've been in love." Damon replied. "It's painful and pointless and overrated."

"Except when it isn't." Vicki replied, with sudden perceptiveness and wisdom.

"No more talking. Let's dance." Damon took Vicki into his arms and twirled her around.

They kept dancing and drinking after that.

"Huh, I love this song," Claire said before starting singing. "Vows are spoken, to be broken, feelings are intense, words are meaningless and forgettable."

Damon used his vampire-speed to dance on the second floor banister. Claire sang out loud and kept dancing with Vicki, watching him amused.

They danced their way all over the house until they reached the second floor and with that, Stefan's room. Vicki started to jump on Stefan's bed, throwing all the pillows and blankets on the floor while she and Damon took care of library and desk, filled with books, journals and notes. They made a big mess of things but Claire didn't regret it for a second.

Damon suddenly stopped with an old photo in his hand, a melancholic expression on his face. Claire, unable to see him so sad, hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear: "Hey, you'll see her again. I promise you, you will."

Damon turned his neck to look at her before turning completely around and bringing her to his chest. "Let's dance." Claire nodded.

They slow-danced for a while, her head on his chest, without saying anything. Then Vicki's voice interrupted them. She had been sprouting random facts about her life during the whole time they had been dancing so Claire wasn't really surprised when she continued like she had never stopped.

"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia beach with Pete." She said, coming closer to them. Claire and Damon moved away from each other instinctively. Claire thought she would feel awkward about this sudden closeness and 'touchness' between them but she didn't. It felt…natural…right.

"He drives trucks." Vicki continued. "I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering." Vicki finished with tears on her face. Claire felt sad for her but also uncomfortable. She didn't do well with people crying.

"Your life is so pathetic." Damon said without an ounce of sympathy.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed-up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank."

"Yeah, I think Elena will have something to say about that." Claire said with sarcasm.

"You are so damaged." Damon continued, his mind seemed elsewhere.

"Yep."

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem."

"Nope, none."

Damon sighed at her. "I think I know what could help you."

"What's that?" Vicki asked.

"Death." Damon replied. Claire was about to shout at Damon to stop whatever he was about to do but she didn't need to. Damon sighed and added, "but I won't turn you today. I made a promise after all." Claire smiled at him brilliantly.

"Thank you Damon."

Damon nodded at her then turned towards Vicki to compel her. "You're not going to remember anything about today, about the fact that I drank your blood and killed your friends. You'll just remember that you had a good time but that you were so wasted, you don't remember who you spent your time with. Now, you're going to go home and sleep your hangover off."

Vicki nodded vacantly. "I had a really good time today, thank you. I'm gonna go home now. Bye."

"Good girl." Damon said to her and moved aside to let her go. Vicki said bye to Claire as well before leaving the room. Damon heard her going down the stairs and then the front door opening and closing.

"Well, I think I'll take a shower now if you don't mind." Claire said to him.

"Sure. Use the shower in my room, it's the best one in the house."

Another half an hour later, they were once again downstairs, watching a movie and still no sign of Stefan. Suddenly, she remembered that she had left her phone in the car and realized that someone must be looking for her by now.

"Shoot! My phone! I'll be right back!" She left the house and walked to the back where she had parked her car. She retrieved her phone and sure enough, she had 15 missed calls and at least another 10 text messages, from her mother, Bonnie, Caroline and two texts from Matt as well – all wanting to know where she was.

Claire called her mother first and said that she had gone out of town with a friend for the weekend. "Without telling me? You know how worried I was? Some kids were found dead at the cemetery, another animal attack. What if it had been you?"

"Mum relax, first, I don't hang out in cemeteries. Second, I would have called you but I lost my phone for a bit – as in, I couldn't remember where I left it. Now I found it. And well, I would have warned you before but it was kind of an emergency. You see this friend – no mum, you don't know them, I met her while I was staying with dad this summer – yeah, so, my friend had just broken up with her boyfriend and she was a total mess. Yeah, she needed me. You should have seen her, a real tragedy. They were together for ten months. He was her first."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Liz said frantically, trying to stop her from talking now that the conversation had turned towards sex. "Just get home soon, okay? And don't think you're out of the loop yet, got it? You're grounded, young lady!"

"Fine, fine. See you soon mum!" She hanged up with a breath of relief and called Bonnie next. She told her she had been spending time with Damon and that she was sorry she hadn't warned her about it but she had momentarily lost her phone. Bonnie said that it was okay, she just wished Claire had warned her so she could have covered for her with her mother. She sent Matt a text saying that she had been busy with a friend and finally called Elena. Elena didn't answer however and Claire could imagine why. If she remembered correctly, she had spent her entire day with Stefan and he had finally told her his secret.

She said as much to Damon.

"Hum, now I understand what's taking him so long. It was about time."

"I know right?" Claire asked rhetorically. "How long did he think he could keep his secret? The only reason he told her is because she found out on her own and confronted him about it. Hey, you know what? I think I'll go to her, see how she's doing."

"I'll come with you." Damon said, noticing that darkness had fallen outside the window. "I'm tired of waiting for Stefan to show up. I'll take the ring from him myself, even if I have to pry it from his fingers."

They left the house and drove separately to the Gilbert House. Damon rang the doorbell and they waited for a few minutes for Elena to open the door. When Elena saw who was on the other side, she immediately tried to shut it but Damon pushed it open without breaking a sweat.

"Jeremy, go upstairs." Elena said with a glare towards Damon, never taking her eyes off of him. Jeremy went up the stairs. Claire stayed behind Damon. Elena hadn't noticed her yet.

"You're afraid of me. Stefan finally 'fessed up, huh?"

"Stay away from me." Elena said, anger and fear mixed together in her voice.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan." Damon made his way into the house and advanced towards Elena. "May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited. We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So...Where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki." Elena's glare intensified.

"Why?" Claire asked and Elena noticed her for the first time.

"Claire! Oh, my god! You're okay!" She went to hug her but Damon was in the way. Elena turned to him in a fury. "What did you do to her? She's been missing for two days. Stefan said you've compelled her and that you were feeding from her."

"Stefan doesn't know what he's talking about." Claire said with a snort, entering the house. "Your boyfriend thinks is so high and mighty, locking up Damon for three days to starve – he would have kept him locked up for much longer if I hadn't intervened."

Elena frowned at that, not looking the least bit surprised. "Stefan told me about that."

"Did he also tell you that during the founders' party, to get to Damon, he pushed me to the floor so hard that I hit my head on the pavement and lost consciousness for awhile? Or that he thought I was being compelled and used as a chew-toy but he didn't do anything about it until Damon threatened you directly?"

Damon looked surprised at Claire's rant but didn't interrupt. Elena was upset but not about what Claire was telling her.

"You said that Stefan thought you were being compelled but you weren't, weren't you? You knew! You knew what Damon was and you hanged around him anyway. Do you know how many people he's killed? All those animal attacks? That was him!" She pointed towards Damon in accusation.

"Yes, I knew. I've always known." Claire replied calmly.

"And you didn't think to tell me? And how did you know anyway?" Elena asked, looking more and more upset.

Claire sighed. "It's complicated. And I'll tell you everything, I promise. Just tell me, what did you mean when you said that Stefan went looking for Vicki? Why would he be looking for Vicki?"

"Ask him! He turned her!" Elena accused Damon again.

Claire frowned and exchange a look with Damon. "No, he didn't. He was with me the whole time. He fed from her and then gave her his blood to heal her and sent her home after compelling her to forget what had happened. Vicki was still alive when she left the boarding house."

"Then who?" Elena asked, confused. Claire and Damon shrugged.

"Seems there's another vampire in town." Damon replied calmly. "Well, it was fun Elena but I have to go now. Tell my brother I'm looking for him if you see him. Claire, I'll see you soon!" He went to leave the house when he turned around at the last minute. "Oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house." He said cheekily before closing the door behind him.

Then there was only Claire and Elena. "So, want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

So Claire told her everything – everything she could at least – certainly not the fact that she was from another world and that this life she was living now was really a TV show. She told Elena the same version that she had told Damon – that she had visions – and she explained why and how she got 'involved' with Damon.

Elena seemed upset at first but she seemed to understand, though she didn't agree with Claire's opinion of Damon. Elena thought him a monster and nothing more. Claire told her that there was more of Damon than meet the eye and that, if she was lucky, she would get to meet the Damon that she had come to know. They ended the night not agreeing on a lot of things when it came to the Salvatore Brothers but the friendship was too strong to be broken by something like this.

Elena understood why she had kept quiet until now and forgave her for that. That was all that Claire cared about. She didn't want to lose Elena for nothing in the world. It was strange because she had technically met her only a few days ago but it really felt like they had been friends for years.

Anyway, Claire was relieved the truth was finally out and she was also especially happy that she finally had someone to confide in, someone she could share her secrets with, at least partially. She was also grateful that she didn't have to lie anymore, at least to one of her friends. She couldn't wait for Bonnie to find out the truth so the three of them could finally be honest with each other. For now she went home, ready to face her mother's wrath, feeling light and hopeful for the first time in days.


End file.
